NEWS BRIEFS (June 01, 2000)
Canadian Plastics
ROYAL CONSOLIDATINGGiant profile and pipe extruder Royal Group Technologies Ltd. has announced it will replace 21 existing facilities dispersed around the Toronto area with 14 plants located on a new ...
ROYAL CONSOLIDATING
Giant profile and pipe extruder Royal Group Technologies Ltd. has announced it will replace 21 existing facilities dispersed around the Toronto area with 14 plants located on a new 205-acre industrial complex. The site is located near Royal’s headquarters in Woodbridge, Ont. Several plants have already been built on the site and moving will be continuous throughout the construction phase, according to Royal president and CEO Vic DeZen. The move will centralize the operations of a number of Royal Group subsidiaries and permit greater standardization and operating efficiencies between plants, DeZen says. Royal, which also runs its own compounding plant, recycling facility and machinery and tooling business, reported sales of $1.2 billion in 1999
IPL ACQUIRES QUEBEC CUSTOM MOLDER, NEW CONTRACTS
IPL Inc. (St-Damien, Que.) has signed an agreement to purchase the assets of Plastiques Gagnon Estrie, located in Lawrenceville, Que. The agreement, which was pending diligence at press time, was expected to be finalized by June 1. Plastiques Gagnon Estrie, a subsidiary of Plastique Gagnon (St.-Jean-Port-Joli, Que.), has nine injection molding machines and 80 employees. The company specializes in the molding of recreational products, also one of the market areas served by IPL.
IPL also announced it has acquired new contracts in the automotive sector valued at an estimated $25 million. Contracts from Canadian Tier 1 companies totaled $7.5 million over a three-year period. An initial contract valued at $4.2 million was awarded to IPL for the manufacture of 2002 model-year front fascia bridges for Ford vehicles. IPL also won a contract worth a total of $17.5 over a five-year period from a major U.S. Tier 1 customer for the manufacture of flip window seals for the Ford sport utility vehicles.
NEW MANUFACTURING RESEARCH CENTRE TO BE LOCATED AT McMASTER UNIVERSITY
A new state-of-the-art institute devoted to leading-edge research in industrial manufacturing is under construction at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. The new $2.3 million facility will house the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI). The MMRI will focus on the development of new technologies in the core areas of metal machining, materials forming, polymer processing and advanced computerized design and fabrication. The Insitute will be endowed with an industrial research chair and has an initial $9.1 million budget for the purchase of machinery and operational expenses. MMRI has a partership arrangment with IBM wherein the company will supply the institute with the latest version of its CATIA CAD/CAM platform.
MOVING ON UP…
Auxiplast Inc. has moved to a new and larger office at 1800 rue Coulombe, Ste. Julie, Que. J3E 1Y1. The telephone number remains the same: 450/922-0282. Auxiplast is a manufacturers’ representative for extrusion equipment. Its lines include Davis-Standard, Conair, Dynisco Extrusion, Gala Industries, and Guill Tool and Engineering.
Meyers Colour Compounds has moved to a new manufacturing facility that includes additional production capacity, more bulk storage silos, an expanded color development laboratory and up-dated materials handling systems. Meyers produces custom color concentrates and dry color blends for thermoplastics. The new address is 900 Harrington Court, Burlington, Ont. L7N 3N4. Tel: 905/633-9768, fax: 905/633-9474.
SUPPLIER NEWS…
Rapid Granulator Inc. has appointed En-plas Inc., Scarborough, Ont., as sole Canadian distributor. Rapid makes granulators from 6 in. by 6 in. to 32 in. by 60 in. and has plants in Goose Creek, SC and Rockford, Ill.
Cantec Polymers Inc. is a new plastics materials supplier with a commitment to “source the right material for the right price,” says president and founder Mike Lang. Cantec offers generic prime, wide-spec and reprocessed commodity thermoplastics, as well as engineering thermoplastics and specialties. The company is located at 4 Lillibet Rd., Toronto, Ont. M8Z 3S2, tel: 416/436-2323.
A rapid prototyping service for blow molded bottles is now available from W. Amsler Equipment Inc. (Richmond Hill, Ont.). Typical turnaround time from concept to sample container is two weeks, and the pilot mold can later be integrated into production tooling. W. Amsler is a manufacturer of fully-electric PET reheat stretch blow molding machines.
JSW Plastics Machinery, Inc. has announced the opening of its new technical centre for training, continuing education, mold testing and plastics processing optimization. The 16,500 sq. ft. technical facility, located in Elk Grove Village, IL, will serve injection molding firms and their production staff. The facility is equipped with four electric and two hydraulic molding machines.
BF Goodrich Co. (Charlotte, NC) has announced it is planning to sell its performance materials segment, including its plastics and additives business, by the end of the current year. Performance materials accounted for $1.2 billion sales for BFG in 1999. The company is selling the business in order to concentrate on its aerospace and engineered industrial products division.
Huntsman Corporation announced it will re-organize to create a new Specialty Chemicals business, a broader-based Polyurethanes business, and an enhanced Surfactants and Ethylene Oxide Derivatives business. Belgium-based Huntsman has a 6 billion-lb. polyurethanes business and a 750 million-lb. performance chemicals business.
PEOPLE….
CLARIFICATION
A news item in April announced that Stefan Snopek has joined Stephen Sales Group (Markham, Ont.) but misspelled his name. We apologize.
It also stated that Stephen Sales represents Dynisco, but should have read “Dynisco Extrusion”.
Thomas Bernhardt has been has been appointed vice president and general manager of Canadian operations for Clariant Masterbatches Division. He is based in the company’s office in Mississauga, Ont. His previous position was with Clariant in Ireland.
Mold-Masters opens Technology Center
A large crowd of employees, customers, dignitaries and other guests helped Mold-Masters Ltd. open its new 63,000 sq. ft. Technology Center, a short distance from its main manufacturing plant and offices in Georgetown, Ont. The plant will be used for hot runner research and development.
Mold-Masters president Jonathan Fischer told the crowd attending the inauguration ceremony that the company currently invests from 8 to 12 percent of its annual revenue in research and development, and holds over 1000 patents worldwide, pending and received.
“The new Technology Center will enable us to broaden our focus, enhancing a research and development effort that has helped shape the hot runner industry for more than four decades,” Fischer said.