AUGUST 1999 - FLEXFAB CONSOLIDATES IT'S MOLDING OPERATIONS -  FHI, Inc., the parent company of Flexfab, LLC, one of the country's leading molders of specialty elastomers has announced a consolidation of its facilities as part of a realignment plan that better structures the company for optimum manufacturing flow and customer service efficiency. Flexfab Molded Products Group (Racine, WI) has unveiled its plans to combine the manufacturing and support operations of sister company Flexfab Elastomerix, Inc. (Carson, CA) into the company's primary molded products facility in East Troy, WI. FEI's specialty is high-quality liquid silicone rubber (LSR) keypads for a wide range of automotive, medical and electronic devices.

"This move will allow us to better serve our existing keypad customers and developing markets with a more complete range of services," said Flexfab MPG's David Brown. "We will be able to deliver a broader spectrum of design, engineering and test capabilities to our entire customer base," he observed.

Brown added that West Coast customers would benefit from the extensive material development laboratory, custom-mixing capacity and full tool room capabilities of Flexfab's Midwest-based operations. The East Troy facility provides injection-, compression- and transfer molding of high consistency rubber (HCR) along with its LSR injection molding capabilities.

The transition will start immediately, and is expected to require about 90 days to complete. Flexfab officials will begin expansion of the East Troy facility to accommodate the added operations, and to make room for the custom mixing work currently being done in the firm's Racine plant. That facility will be dedicated as the company's center for molded products.

"To better focus our overall engineering efforts, the primary technical center will be located in Racine," Brown explained. "The production work will be consolidated in East Troy, which gives better quality control and versatility. It also allows us to share the support and resources of our larger operation."

In a related move, Flexfab announced that it will also relocate the extruded products operation from the Racine plant to its large-scale extrusion plant in Hastings, MI. The Flexfab extrusion facility in Hastings manufactures reinforced hose products, custom profiles and extruded tubing.

"With the majority of the company's molding done in East Troy, we felt we could better control costs with this new organizational structure," Brown said. "The move reflects our dedication to molded and extruded products, and our belief that the future in these products is strong," he added.

Brown cited offshore competition and the need for greater efficiency as driving forces behind consolidation of the company's keypad business, along with a desire to centralize its molding and engineering functions in the Midwest.

"In some of our markets, there is a lack of domestic engineering support, tool design expertise or materials development experience," he said. "Our objective is to build on our reputation for superior engineering and technical support with these changes, and strengthen our customer service position even further."

Injection molding of liquid silicone rubber (LSR) is noted for close tolerances and the ability to produce high-performance gaskets, seals, and diaphragms. Flexfab combines leading-edge molding technology with unmatched expertise in an array of secondary operations, including proprietary techniques for laser etching, printing, painting, capping and overmolding. The result is an unprecedented level of quality and reliability in high-value molded products and keypad applications.

Flexfab MPG and Flexfab Elastomerix are members of the Flexfab Horizons International family of companies. FHI designs and manufactures engineered components and systems for aerospace, automotive, heavy-duty truck and other industries. Products include seals, keypads, profile extrusions, hose, ducting and custom components using a wide range of elastomeric polymers and reinforcing materials. Headquartered in Hastings, Michigan, FHI currently has approximately 800 employees and five manufacturing locations in the United States and Europe.