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By Frank Antosiewicz
CORRESPONDENT
Published: June 16, 2014 2:45 pm ET
Updated: June 16, 2014 2:47 pm ET
Chapman Tool & Manufacturing is boosting its medical molding operations, having added two Sumitomo electric presses in the past year and is planning to construct a hard wall ISO Class 8 clean room this summer. “Right now we have a soft wall clean room that is actually mobile but we don’t move it around,” said David Kincaid, marketing and logistics manager for the Brooksville, Fla.-based company, in a phone interview.
The current clean room is classified as ISO Class 8 and includes 30 and 75 ton Sumitomo presses, as well as the ability to anneal parts. The new space would provide even more room to handle more work.
He said that they are seeing more opportunities for clean room work, including molding and assembly. Kincaid said that the new clean room is in the design stage, but will include room for three electric presses, as well as assorted secondary services. He said that it should be ready by the end of the summer.
Overall, Chapman runs 16 presses ranging to 400 tons. It operates three shifts a day, five days a week at its 21,000-square-foot facility. It has 55 full-time employees.
Kincaid said that they are moving toward more all-electric machines and that its work includes a lot of medical as well as industries that need more precise, tight tolerance work. It also stresses its ability to provide tooling in-house and many secondary services such as assembly, pad printing, hot stamping, sonic welding and heat staking.
“We tend to do a lot more difficult projects with a lot more complex assembly,” he noted.
Kincaid did not release any sales figures but noted that the company has grown its medical and aerospace work in the last 2 to 3 years.
Chapman, a division of Kincaid Plastics Inc., has a background as a custom molder and tool builder. It was founded by Gerald Dickson in 1965 and was purchased by Kincaid in 2010. | |
