LS Mtron Injection Molding Machine USA has expanded in several locations recently, opening two new facilities and moving its headquarters near Atlanta from Peachtree Corners, Ga., to Duluth.
The company opened a parts and service center in San Diego and a large-ton machine and mold testing and tech center inside MVP Plastics Inc.'s new, 50,000-square-foot plant in Brownsville, Texas.
"Having the ability to run trials for customers on large automotive molds on our LS machines is a big plus for us," Peter Gardner, business director at LS Mtron Injection Molding Machine USA, said in a June 13 news release. "We are pleased to be working together with MVP Plastics in this new venture."
The new sites join another LS Mtron tech center in Wood Dale, Ill., near Chicago, and a sales and service center in Querétaro, Mexico.
"We are growing rapidly in North America and LS Mtron is investing heavily to support that growth," said Gardner, who joined LS Mtron in 2021 when it bought the plastics machinery division of Daiichi Jitsugyo America. Gardner had been vice president of sales and general manager for DJA, which has sold LS Mtron presses in the United States since 2018.
The new, 16,000-square-foot U.S. headquarters provides more office space and warehouse room for spare parts inventory, as well as a bigger demonstration area for injection presses. LS Mtron considers parts availability and service response time keys to doing business in North America.
"We have doubled the number of direct service technicians and the size of our spare parts stock inventory in the U.S. in just the past two years," said D.S. Jo, North American operations director. "LS is making this proactive investment to support revitalized American manufacturing."
The company's parent is LS Mtron Co. Ltd. of Anyang, South Korea, that country's largest injection molding machine maker. The U.S. operation was founded by South Korean tech giant LG Corp., one of the world's largest plastic molders.