CPI shuts down Ontario plant (June 03, 2005)

Production will grind to a halt at CPI Plastics Ltd.’s (Mississauga, ON) manufacturing facility in Pefferlaw, ON by the end of July, the company announced Friday.
CPI’s Pefferlaw plant manufactures some of the firms’ film products, which includes its Rack Sack waste disposal bags. To compensate for the closure, CPI will consolidate its film products manufacturing at its state-of-the-art, 100,000 sq ft, plant in Pleasant Prairie, WI, which opened in September 2003.
"Currently, in our two film manufacturing facilities, we are utilizing approximately 50% of machine capacity and 25% of plant footprint capacity. We could not continue operating in this manner if we expect to compete effectively and to generate acceptable returns," explained Peter F. Clark, CEO at CPI.
In Canada, CPI sells branded and private label garbage bags, as well as its Rack Sack line, for customers in the retail sector. However, in the mid-western US, it focuses mainly on the industrial market.
CPI currently has over 800 employees located in both Mississauga and Pleasant Prairie, and after the Pefferlaw plant closure, it will still employ over 700 of those workers in five facilities in Canada, Clark noted.
The other five plants manufacture plastic decking, spa cladding and fencing, for CPI’s Outdoor Living Products Group, and a variety of items such as appliances and office furniture for its Custom Products Group.