Plastech Corp. recently spent more than $3 million to start injection molding in Frederic, Wis.
The Rush City, Minn.-based injection molder had acquired the Frederic building in April 2019 when Plastech's parent company, Frandsen Corp., bought the assets of Lakeland Tool & Engineering Inc. Since then, the Frederic building has been used for storage and overflow assembly.
At the end of 2023, the company added injection molding presses to the building, which has 30,000 square feet dedicated to production and 28,000 square feet for warehousing. Plastech cited increased customer demand and a goal to grow the business.
"Sales for 2023 should be just over $80 million and projected sales for 2024 should meet or exceed that level. Our business has grown by 17 percent in 2023, which has driven the production space expansion," said Nick Frandsen, sales account manager.
The Frederic plant is now home to three 300-ton injection presses, one 400-ton machine, and two 500-ton presses. All are equipped with robotics. The Rush City plant features 47 robotics-assisted injection molding machines ranging from 55-1,500 tons.
"We invested over $3 million to upgrade the Frederic building and purchase equipment, including six brand new electric molding machines," said Plastech General Manager Jerry Miller. Production started in mid-December with a 24/7 operation and 25 employees.
"The Frederic plant increases overall Plastech capacity by nearly 13 percent," Frandsen said. He added that the expansion will allow Plastech to take on new high-volume jobs in the small to medium tonnage ranges.
"With the Frederic plant allowing room to house up to 16 total molding machines, we can now explore new partnership opportunities for the first time in many years," he said.
Plastech, which is ISO 9001:2015 certified, was founded as Star Tool in Minneapolis in 1956. It was renamed Plastech Research in 1961 and moved to Rush City in 1962. The company now employs more than 325 people at two locations.
When Plastech bought the assets of Lakeland Tool, the deal also included a molding plant in Anoka, Minn. Since the acquisition Plastech absorbed the Lakeland business and closed the Anoka plant earlier this year. All of the workers there were offered jobs at other Frandsen businesses, Frandsen said.