SEPTEMBER 2000 - FLEXFAB CREATES EXTRUSION EXPERTISE CENTER - Following a strategic reorganization plan to integrate the company's significant extrusion capabilities and technical support into a single unit, Flexfab has announced the creation of its Extrusion Expertise Center in Hastings, MI.  The Flexfab complex in Hastings will function as the heart of the firm's extrusion business, with R & D, engineering, manufacturing and testing functions consolidated into one highly focused group.

Located at the Extrusion Center will be a number of manufacturing operations, including profile and composite extrusion, wire coating, tubing and hose extrusions.  "By consolidating the entire extrusion business into one location, we'll be able to offer greater depth of technical support and design engineering," said Business Unit Manager Matt DeCamp.   "That will help us bring better service to industries we serve, providing even better R & D and a wider range of products.

"It will also give us the opportunity to expand our product offerings into new markets, such as diversifying extruded profiles to a wider variety of applications and supplying high-performance silicone tapes for the aviation and aerospace industries," DeCamp commented.  

For unique operating conditions or processing techniques, Flexfab is able to supply customers with specific material formulations for individual requirements.  "We have chemists on staff to formulate compounds to meet customer needs, and we also do a lot of our own mixing, " said VP of Marketing & New Business Development, David Brown.  "With the extrusion center now in the same facility as our materials engineering department, we are able to bring a broader range of elastomeric solutions to customers in each industry," he added.

Brown said that consolidation of equipment will also help the company to expand its line of extruded tubing profiles, supplying customers a much wider range of products.  "Many of these hose and tubing products will be designed specifically for the applicant at hand," he observed.

One of these specialty tubing products has taken the company into the dairy industry, where Flexfab helps engineer the solutions for milk delivery applications.  The firm is supplying milk hose extruded form silicone rubber, which has been successfully used in milk transfer tubing for many years.  It is specified for its flexibility, softness and longevity, as well as the material's inert nature.

Flexfab is capable of making a wide range of extruded shapes and sizes, using either horizontal or vertical extrusion techniques.  The company's goal is to help customers solve their widely varying needs for elastomeric products, with experienced engineers on staff to assist users with material selection, processing and physical properties testing.

Flexfab is a member of the Flexfab Horizons International family of companies, which design and manufacture 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 in five manufacturing sites in the United States and Europe, with warehousing in South America.