Rotational molder triples floor space with Washington expansion

Rotational molder Smak Plastics Inc. invested more than a $1 million at its Vancouver, Wash., headquarters to triple the floor space for new equipment and employees as it consolidates its brands under one roof.

Founded in 2007, Smak owns brands including Flextank wine maturation tanks, Columbia Manufacturing electrical pedestals, and the Smak Products line of commercial carpet cleaning machines and equipment.

The company also launched a material handling product line of bins, hoppers, tanks and insulated boxes in 2016. In addition, there's "high demand" for contract manufacturing, Smak owner Jon Smalley said in an email.

"We're growing and gaining market share in all these areas," he said. "We experienced 46 percent growth from 2017 to 2018."

In fiscal 2018, corporate sales for rotational molding reached $13 million with 80 percent of the work for custom orders and 20 percent for proprietary products, Smalley said.

The company processes various grades of polyethylene, cross-linked PE (PEX), nylon and PVC for a variety of markets, such as industrial and agricultural tanks, sports and recreation goods, automotive, food-processing, lawn and garden, and electrical. Custom molding work ranges from OEM tanks to plastic chairs and benches, water slides, hunting canoes and more.

For the expansion, a 50,000-square-foot addition was built onto the 25,000-square-foot headquarters for more manufacturing, assembly and finishing space. The business also got five new shipping bays.

More than 30 jobs were created, bringing the Vancouver workforce to about 50, Smalley said. A new Rotoline 3.10 four-arm cart machine also was part of the investment, he said, and there's room for three more machines.

Before the expansion, the brands were spread between Vancouver and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where Smak had been leasing a facility since 2017. Smalley said the site handled custom items and the carpet cleaning line.

In 2017, Smak had experienced growth through the acquisitions of Columbia Manufacturing LLC and Flextank Inc. Also, the prior year, Smak Material Handling started to produce bins, totes, hoppers, tanks and pallets from food-grade-approved PE resin.

The company's stocking and shipping functions operate out of a Smak warehouse in Great Bend, Kan., which allows for fast service to customers in the eastern United States.