PMC seeing rapid growth at its Zenith blow molding unit

PMC Global Inc., a well-known holding company for plastics manufacturing businesses, is seeing rapid growth in its relatively new container blow molding unit, Zenith Global LLC.

"In 2008, we were approached by a fairly large food manufacturer to begin processing injection stretch blow molded wide-mouth containers, and from there the company has grown organically," Vice President of Sales Colin Cody said in a recent telephone interview.

"We started with one blow molding machine in our Howell, Mich., facility to satisfy that customer. And since then, really since 2018, the business has grown dramatically, with a compound growth rate of over 40 percent annually," Cody said.

Zenith has added additional single-stage PET stretch blow molding equipment in Howell, and it also recently opened a second plant, in Calumet City, Ill.

PMC Global is a Sun Valley, Calif.-based consortium of businesses related to manufacturing, food, health and cosmetics.

The company is headed by Philip Kamins, who started his plastics career in the 1950s. He started Plastics Management Corp., which is now known as PMC Global, in 1974.

PMC's current plastics holdings include thermoformer Direct Pack Inc. in Azusa, Calif. Zenith was an outgrowth of another PMC business, VCF Films Inc.

"The company used to run a films manufacturing plant out of Howell, Mich. And when they wound that down, they were approached by a company … that asked, 'Would you consider getting into PET blow molding?' And that's where the conversation began," Cody said.

"When that customer started to grow organically, [PMC officials] started to realize, 'Hey, we have various subsidiaries in different plastics manufacturing businesses. Let's enter the PET blow molding market, since we already have an anchor customer,'" he said.

Reva Kamins, a vice president at PMC Global, is president of Zenith.

"We've had a lot of success and continued investment into the business, and we've ventured into new market verticals," Cody said. "And now we are in the process of completing a major infrastructure project in Howell and a brand-new site in Calumet City."

The company spent $15 million on the Calumet City expansion, with about 75 percent of that on blow molding equipment. Zenith primarily uses Nissei ASB machines.

"We partner with them on their zero-cooling technology," Cody said. While traditional machines cool the PET preform in the injection station, the zero-cooling process shifts cooling to the conditioning station, which improves the cycle time.

Growth has been rapid. At the end of 2017, Zenith had three machines and about 20 employees. By the end of 2021, it will have 200,000 square feet of manufacturing space between the two plants.

Each plant is about 100,000 square feet, with about 75,000 square feet dedicated to manufacturing. The company has about 55 full-time employees.

The company invested in more capacity to tackle the personal care and cosmetics markets.

"PMC Global is a multibillion-dollar conglomerate, but we have a lean management structure. When we decide to enter new markets or have a hot project, there's not a lot of red tape to fight through," Cody said.

"The backing of PMC Global — and their plastics industry knowledge and experience — is what sets us apart from other mid-tier blow molders," he said.

Cody said Zenith experienced challenges during the pandemic but stayed open and ran 24/7 in Howell.

"When things got locked down, we were declared an essential business. So we were running wide open," he said.

Sustainability is an important trend in container manufacturing. Cody said Zenith can make bottles with up to 100 percent post-consumer PET.

"Internally for us, by 2027 we have a goal to run 30 percent post-consumer content in every single one of our products," he said.

Once the Calumet City plant is running at capacity, he said, Zenith will look at additional expansion, potentially through acquisition.