Xaloy (New Castle, PA) has announced its plans for what it calls a comprehensive factory expansion at its Chonburi, Thailand operation. The company said the expansion will include an increase in facility size and machinery, as well as technology improvements, with Xaloy in the midst of a global ERP implementation program.

Tom Bametzrieder, VP global marketing, told PlasticsToday that the company's presence in Thailand goes back to 1998, when it was originally opened the site to more easily service Japanese OEM machinery firms, which the company had been supplying with machine components from the U.S. and Switzerland. The site manufactures screws and barrels for a variety of plastics processing machinery, including injection, blowmolding, and extrusion systems. Bametzrieder said the expansion will be focused on barrels, with the overall investment coming in response to market demand. Bametzrieder also said the move reflects a three-to-five-year "strategic window" the firm is hoping to capitalize on, with the help of its owners, Industrial Growth Partners (San Francisco, CA), which acquired the company from Baird Capital Partners (Milwaukee, WI) in October 2008.

Instead of Japanese machinery OEMs, Bametzrieder said the company now largely services Chinese OEMs from Thailand, with that market never really slowing down, despite the economic malaise felt elsewhere globally, particularly in the machinery market. Bametzrieder said the facility is set up for output of 3000 units annually, with that capacity currently full. Xaloy will not reveal details regarding the expansion, saying only that it will be completed by the end of the year. Including the soon-to-be-expanded Thai operation, Xaloy has six manufacturing and assembly sites globally, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, and Germany.