Wed Feb 22 2012
by Jeff Saunders | Reporter
Macedonia -- A Macedonia company that is the exclusive supplier of shells for NFL helmets is expanding.
On Dec. 1, Design Molded Plastics purchased a $1.9 million, 42,000 square-foot building next to its 62,000-square-foot Bavaria Road headquarters and plant, said company President Jay Honsaker.
He said the new building will be used as a warehouse and home for the company's engineering department.
"We're very cramped in this facility," said Honsaker, referring to the headquarters. "We've gone through two additions to this building."
Honsaker estimated the expansion will allow the company to add 10 jobs in 2012, including a fifth engineer, to the 140 employees it has now.
Long-term, he said the two buildings on more than nine acres can be expanded by up to 50,000 square feet more, depending on parking needs.
"It's an opportunity to grow the business and bring in new workers," he said. "Our business is continuing to grow,"
Design Molded Plastics is a custom thermoplastic injection molder. The firm works with client companies to design plastic components, then designs molds -- called "tools" -- to customer specifications. Some molds are then made onsite in a tool room, which underwent a $2-million upgrade several years ago, while larger ones are constructed in Asia.
The climate-controlled plant floor includes shelves of numerous molds that Honsaker said are valued between $50,000 and $250,000 each.
"We have literally millions of dollars in tools here," said Honsaker.
Molds must be designed to withstand high pressures because machines inject hot liquid polymers at pressures of as much as 20,000 pounds per square inch into the mold, where they solidify into a finished product.
The products are then tested in a high-tech quality assurance room for strength and defects, among other things.
Honsaker said the company has about 35 clients and "just over $20 million in annual business."
For the last six years it has been the exclusive manufacturer of football helmet shells for Riddell, the "official helmet" of the National Football League.
"The first year we were told we would never have more than 50 percent of their business," said Honsaker. "The second year we had 100 percent."
Rob Eckenrode, Nordonia Hills School District athletic director, said Riddell is also one of two companies that provide helmets to district football players.
A small sampling of the many other items the company makes, said Honsaker, include taillight assemblies for Harley-Davidson motorcycles; components for Kirby Vacuum, high-end blenders for Olmsted Falls-based Vitamix, keypad Genie garage door openers, medical equipment, and Blue Coral carpet shampooers; and numerous gears of various sizes.
Honsaker said he got his first experience in the injection molding process, working at Thugbug, an automotive security products manufacturer founded by his father.
In 1985, he and his sister, Diane Hansom, who serves as company secretary and treasurer, started Design Molded Plastics in 1985 with $85,000 they borrowed from their parents. Both the company's original facility in Twinsburg and a subsequent location in Bedford Heights were leased, but the company marked its 10th anniversary in 1995 by buying the Bavaria Road property and constructing its own quarters.
Honsaker said the latest expansion is a long time coming.
"We've been negotiating for that building for four years," he said.
E-mail: jsaunders@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3169
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