Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co. and BMW AG, for example, all have a "rich history" of using additive manufacturing to produce spare parts, tooling and other low-volume components, according to Ford Motor Co.'s Ellen Lee. But automotive has specific needs in terms of scale, cost and materials that differ from other industries.

US Extruders Inc. now has a complete line of extruders designed specifically for the medical industry that it will be showing for the first time at MD&M West this month. The company, a manufacturer of custom single-screw extruders in Westerly, R.I., introduced its first-generation Med-Ex extruder at the show last year.

As manufacturing facilities close temporarily, several suppliers within the plastics and automotive industries are scrambling with broader impacts from the spreading epidemic.

The Horsham, Pa.-based company, which designs, develops and manufactures custom composite materials for the commercial, energy and defense sectors, is expanding into a second manufacturing plant in Greenville that will allow the company to continue to grow its production operations.

The 3,000-square-foot office serves as the company's waste and metals recycling headquarters for customers operating in North, Central and South America. It can accommodate up to 20 employees, with additional room to grow.

Specialty tubing extruder Fluortek Inc. has purchased a second facility in Easton, Pa., about five minutes from its headquarters.

Teijin Ltd. is expanding its footprint in Europe with Teijin Automotive Center Europe GmbH, a new base in Wuppertal, Germany, that will house technical functions for the company's automotive composites business.

As CH3 Solutions LLC brings in bigger equipment and bigger business, the open space on its manufacturing floor is shrinking. This has led the company to swap out some of its smaller-tonnage injection molding machines as it makes room for the big ones.

As the company’s top executive, Lon Offenbacher has spent the last 12 years steering Inteva Products LLC through macroeconomic and automotive industry-specific ups and downs ranging from the 2007-09 recession that devastated labor markets and the U.S. economy to the United Auto Workers’ weekslong strike against General Motors Co. last year.

Chinese auto parts supplier Minth Group Ltd. is investing $87 million in an additional facility on the company's property in Lewisburg, Tenn., and creating 254 jobs over the next five years.

Reynolds Consumer Products Inc., the owner of Hefty, Presto and Slide-Rite brands in the plastics business, has set the terms for its initial public offering:  a proposal that could raise up to an estimated $1.37 billion, according to a Jan. 21 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Plastic sheet distributor A&C Plastics Inc. is expanding its headquarters in Houston by an additional 112,000 square feet. The expansion includes the addition of a 35,000-square-foot, two-story office building and a 77,000-square-foot warehouse.

Hosokawa Alpine AG has acquired Solids Solutions Group, a company with offices in Spain and Germany that develops and manufactures devices and components for bulk materials handling. The acquisition, which took effect Jan. 2, was officially announced by Hosowaka Alpine on Jan. 14. Terms were not disclosed.

International Automotive Components Group SA is permanently closing its manufacturing facility in Dayton, Tenn., effective Feb. 28. The plant closure will affect 93 workers, according to a notice filed with the state Jan. 8 as part of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act.

Turin, Italy-based OMG srl sees big potential for thermoforming in the United States, and the company is making strategic moves to better position itself for the growth. As part of the effort, the Italian machinery manufacturer is considering plans to build machines at its facility in Arlington, Texas.