Confer Plastics adds large blowmolding machine

(North Tonawanda, NY) will be adding a MCP 400 Hartig Davis-Standard blowmolding machine, using the system’s 100-lb shot to “attract and retain custom clients from a variety of markets from consumer goods to industrial products,” according to Confer VP, Bob Confer. Confer Plastics, which currently runs 15 lines, mixing Hartig, Kautex, Davis-Standard, and Battenfeld systems with shots from 1 to 75 lb, expects its latest machine to be delivered in the next two weeks with installation scheduled to be completed by Nov. 1.

The company tapped the used machine market for the line, purchasing it from a broker for $600,000. The MCP 400 has a 100-lb extrusion head with platens measuring 60 by 120 inches.

Confer told MPW that his company, which was founded in 1973, has continued to thrive in the large-part blowmolding market at a time when others have struggled by conscientiously weighing what markets it will, and perhaps more importantly, will not, serve.

“A varied market basket, having a mix of proprietary and custom business, has helped,” Confer said, “as have the many creative cost-cutting and efficiency measures that we adopted in the past two years. What also helped us avoid significant struggles was the fact that we have, for the entire life of the company, stayed away from the automotive market. So, we didn’t take as big a hit as many blowmolders did when the economy collapsed.”

Confer plastics has two facilities in the Buffalo/Niagara area, covering 215,000 ft², with factory, office, and warehousing space. Third-generation family-owned, Confer Plastics employs more than 110. —Tony Deligio