Plastek Manufacturing adds injection molding capacity under new owner | Plastics News

Brea, Calif.-based Plastek Manufacturing Inc., an injection molder with in-house tooling, prototyping, production and testing capabilities, has invested in four injection molding machines as it adds capacity following an ownership transition.

The four presses will prepare the 36-year-old company to grow with existing customers in the commercial, aerospace and medical markets and take on new projects, according to owner and President Mark Balderrama.

"We are seeing growth in all the industries we serve right now. We expect a 30 to 40 percent increase in overall business in 2025," Balderrama said in an email.

He bought the company, which has 30 employees, in January 2024 after working with founder David Behoteguy for the three years prior as an engineering manager and then general manager.

A plastics industry veteran since 1985, Balderrama previously was director of engineering for the product design and development team and the injection mold tooling design at NMC Group Inc.

Balderrama said he worked for several great companies and then decided he wanted to run his own.

"Finding Plastek ... was serendipitous as the previous owner was looking for someone to continue the company as he retired, and I was interested in buying an existing successful molding company," Balderrama said. "He and I knew all the same people in the industry but had never met each other, which was surprising to both of us."

The latest investment of $450,000 brings the company machine fleet to 16 presses. The next purchases will be vertical molding machines, Balderrama said.

"The previous owner had a predominate fleet of Shibaura machines already and I want to keep that continuity," he said of the machine builder of the four presses.

Plastek's new presses are equipped with MachiNetCloud, which Shibaura says is a secure, low-risk performance data product for factories to adopt industrial Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities that can lead to a higher return on investments.

MachiNetCloud provides seamless integration and communication between primary equipment, auxiliary equipment and systems.

"We plan to expand and add this to our other Toshiba/Shibaura presses as well," Balderrama said.

The data product provides real-time monitoring and insights into machines through instant alerts aimed at improving processes and predicting component ware, which minimizes downtime and extends machine life.

The technology also records quality and performance metrics and it lets processors track energy, carbon dioxide and sustainability data by machine or factory for compliance reports.

"By investing in new all-electric injection molding machines and integrating them with MachiNetCloud, Plastek Plastics is taking a huge step towards harnessing the power of data-driven insights," Michael T. Werner, IIoT business devolpment manager for Shibaura Machine Co. America, said in an email.

MachiNetCloud will enable Plastek Manufacturing to optimize operations and unlock new efficiencies, maximizing overall equipment effectiveness across their production lines, Werner said.

"It's great to see companies embracing energy efficient, high precision machinery with cutting edge IIoT technology to improve performance and drive innovation in the injection molding industry," Werner added.

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