Getting Back to Roots

Little Tikes is closing its plant in California and moving back home to Ohio. Dental product manufacturer Coltene/Whaledent is leaving New Jersey and investing $10 million in a new 190,000-sq.-ft. (17,651-sq.-m.) headquarters and manufacturing facility in Akron. The decision was driven by its proximity to the work force for its Tallmadge, Ohio, plant, which will be folded into the new facility, and by the willingness on the part of the city to pay for site improvements and equipment installation. Employing 190 at the outset in July 2003, the plant could swell its payroll to 260 within 18 months. Is an Ohio trend showing here?
        Not a new one, that's for sure. Bastions of plastics processing in the Midwest continue to prosper with expansions and locations, and in times of consolidation, what better place to do it than the birthplace of plastics? Ranked first in total projects since Jan. 1, 2002, and third in total investment during that period, Ohio comes out a clear leader in Conway Data Inc.'s New Plant Database. Flip-flopping ranks in the project and investment categories brings Indiana and Michigan into an overall second-place tie, followed by Tennessee and then Kentucky.
        In January 2003 alone, the following ongoing plastics projects were receiving support in the form of loans, bonds and grants from the Ohio Dept. of Development:
        • Cleveland-based Park Ohio Products, a maker of plastic containers, molded plastic, leisure products, forged and machine products, aluminum castings, induction heating systems and industrial rubber projects, is investing $5 million in an expansion that is expected to create 225 jobs.
        • PLASTPRO 2000, a fiberglass door manufacturer located in Saybrook Township, is creating 120 jobs with a $20.4 million project.
        • Springdale-based Ampac Plastics, a maker of upscale plastic shopping bags, is investing $8.5 million in an expansion that will create 28 jobs and retain 228.
        Plenty of activity emerges from the sheer critical mass of processors in the Akron region, but many of the projects come about because of collaborative efforts with universities, whether through research institutes, incubators or parks. A wide-ranging effort is under way in the heart of the industry: Akron, Ohio. The University of Akron, the Ohio Polymer Strategy Council, PolymerOhio, six other Ohio universities, two federal research facilities and assorted private industry partners are forming the Wright Center for Advanced Materials and Process Innovations (AMPI Center).
        The center's efforts will focus on nanostructured multifunctional materials and composites (the basis for many high-value products); energy generation and storage (including improved fuel cell and battery components, plus photovoltaics); photonic materials and devices (e.g., flexible liquid crystal displays, polymer-based optoelectronic switches, and other photonic circuitry components); polymer process innovations (smart control systems and innovative processing techniques essential for manufacturing high-value-added products); and polymer-based microdevices (miniature complex systems and devices, e.g. "lab-on-a-chip").
        The organization will be a conduit for making intellectual property into new Ohio-made products, and fancies itself a "polymer industry extension service," not that different from agricultural or general manufacturing extension programs, only with a ramped-up focus.
        The wealth of plastics trade groups and programs in Ohio provides a true networking safety net for the industry in the state, which sometimes transforms into a trampoline for new opportunities.
        In Indiana, plastic fence, decking and railing maker Westech is investing an unspecified amount in its hometown of Evansville, as well as upgrading facilities in Calgary, Alberta, and Holmes, N.Y. But the big news this spring is the state's retention of Montreal-based Dorel Industries' Juvenile Group. Rather than going to China or Mexico, the maker of children's furniture and equipment will build a new $26-million plant on the site of its longtime 800,000-sq.-ft. (74,320-sq.-m.) facility in Columbus - known as the home of Cummins Engine Co. as well as an eclectic selection of world-renowned architecture. The move will mean saving 1,053 jobs, and the subsequent consolidation of the company's Greenwood, Ind., distribution center into the new facility, saving the company some $2 million a year in transportation costs.
        "The result will be an expeditious flow, from raw materials to finished product," Dorel President and CEO Martin Schwartz said in explaining the decision. "We will double capacity with the addition of the most modern equipment and even better serve our customers with a build-to-order capability. This will not only serve them even better, but will greatly reduce inventory levels. New supplier arrangements will provide a consistent flow of materials on site."
        Columbus won out over Franklin, Ind., because of an existing rail spur. The Dorel plant relies on large supplies of plastic resins, which are transported by rail to the plant to produce its injection-molded products. The company was founded, as Cosco Inc., in Columbus in 1935. Quebec-based Dorel Industries acquired the company in 1988. The city also just became a North American sales and warehouse outpost for Swiss plastic packaging company George Utz, which hopes to build an $8-million plant within four years. Utz chose the community from 14 under consideration, including Ft. Wayne, Lafayette and Richmond in Indiana.