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CUSTOMER
DEMAND FOR CUSTOM MANUFACTURING
DRIVES SECOND UNITED PLASTICS
GROUP SITE IN MONTERREY, MEXICO
Oak Brook, Ill. and Monterrey,
NL, Mexico, February 28, 2006 – United
Plastics Group, Inc. (UPG) today
inaugurated its second Monterrey,
Mexico facility in response
to a dramatic rise in demand
by Fortune 100 tier one automotive
and consumer product customers
for full-service custom manufacturing.
The quality of production at
the company’s first Monterrey
plant was one contributor to
the upswing in orders. An equally
important second reason was
customer appreciation for the
overall cost effectiveness of
Mexican production close to
US supply chain logistics.
“The kind of quality
work that delights customers
requires good equipment, but
it especially requires good
people. In this respect, Monterrey
has proven to be an ideal site
for us,” said Richard
R. Harris, CEO. “It offers
a well-educated work force in
a modern industrial setting
with many advantages, allowing
us to deliver high quality components
to customers at low cost.”
The company has just ended
a record year for earnings,
the second consecutive year
of positive growth. Steady demand
calls for complex product and
component assembly at the new
Monterrey facility.
The new 53,000 square foot
plant joins UPG facilities in
Mexico, China, Europe and the
US, coordinated through an advanced
project management system out
of corporate headquarters that
includes Web-based collaboration
and monitoring. The new plant’s
first products rolled out the
door in late Q4, 2005 and the
facility is slated for 2006
custom production of consumer,
medical, automotive and electronics
components.
UPG attributes the success
of its Mexican assembly services
in large part to rigorous recruitment,
effective programs for employee
retention, and extensive training
in team problem-solving, individual
work skills and overall Six
Sigma continuous improvement.
“Our objective is global
manufacturing on the highest
levels, using lean manufacturing
facilities that can move quickly
on new projects, no matter how
complex,” said Thomas
Cho, vice president of operations. “For
the second Monterrey facility,
we were able to apply startup
methodologies and resources
developed at headquarters, supplemented
by an experienced core team
from the first Monterrey plant.
Doing so allowed us to build
on a strong foundation of success
to deliver quality product using
proven processes and managed
by highly qualified people.”
This ability to assimilate
new projects quickly is aided
by the plant’s layout,
tuned for value-added secondary
operations, assembly and molding.
Assembly operations take up
about half of the production
space, in an area that can be
configured within hours into
the intensive, product-specific
cell arrangements favored by
lean manufacturing.
The remaining half of the plant
features 27 thermoplastic injection
molding machines ranging from
28-500 tons, in an array ideal
for any level of processing,
from low-volume custom molding
to high-volume commodity production.
Automated systems quickly deliver
molding compound to the presses,
enabling extremely high throughput.
To develop talent in this plant
as well as in its first Monterrey
facility, United Plastics Group
works closely with the continued
to grow rapidly as an important
industrial center in Mexico,
where its closeness to the border
additionally provides logistical
advantages to US companies.
Because UPG is on a growth
curve in Mexico, it is able
to attract and retain personnel
whose skills and dedication
dovetail with UPG’s quality
initiatives. “UPG has
shown a good understanding of
what it means to manufacture
in Mexico,” said Alberto
Oba, director of sales for Mexico. “We
work in close synchronization
with HQ as part of a rich network
of resources that are shared
and monitored globally. We’re
able to get support at any time
to ensure our alignment with
the needs of global customers
for on-time delivery of low-cost
product.”
About UPG
United Plastics Group, Inc.
(www.unitedplasticsgroup.com)
is a full service manufacturer
of precision plastics products
and value-added services for
the consumer, medical, automotive,
electronics and industrial
market segments. UPG operates
lean manufacturing, ISO/TS16949:2002
registered facilities in the
United States, Mexico, Europe
and China.
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