Rotational molder Rotoplast Inc. is expanding its plant in East Farnham, Quebec, by 40 percent to meet growing demand from existing customers.
The company is investing C$2.5 million (US$1.96 million) to add 16,000 square feet to the 40,000-square-foot plant. The extra space will help accommodate a new shuttle machine with a 4-meter (13-foot) spherical swing, bringing to five the number of rotomolding machines at that location.
The company's Pickering, Ontario-based ACO Container Systems division, which it acquired in 2016, has two more machines.
The expansion, which will boost production capacity by 30 percent, should be complete by March or April, Vice President Mathieu Arseneault said in a Sept. 29 email. Rotoplast also is automating production by adding a robotic cell and moving to Industry 4.0 technology — using digital technology to coordinate automated manufacturing with supply-chain processes.
Rotoplast and ACO have combined annual sales of about $12 million. "We are targeting to double the total incomes within the next five years," Arseneault said.
"The company has quadrupled its sales since 2006 and demand is constantly increasing, so the decision to invest was a must for us to enable our continued growth," he noted in a Sept. 27 news release.
Rotoplast currently employs 60 people in East Farnham and 20 in Pickering. Arseneault said the expansion will create an additional 20 jobs in East Farnham. In a nod to the tight labor market, Rotoplast's expansion will include a new employee cafeteria, locker room, outdoor patio and lounge space.
"[We are] well aware that good employees are in short supply these days, the company's managers believe that providing an enviable work climate will ensure retention of existing employees and help attract new talent," the company said in the news release.
About 60 percent of Rotoplast's work is custom subcontract molding for a range of markets: consumer and electrical products, food-processing containers, agricultural and industrial tanks, medical furniture and materials-handling pallets.
It also has a nautical division that manufactures a propriety line of kayaks and pedal boats.