Multiplastics is a company which takes the prefix in its name &emdash; multi &emdash; literally. Not only does this South Carolina-based fabricator have the capability to perform multiple projects simultaneously, but it also forms, machines and fabricates a variety of plastics into an array of industrial products for a multitude of markets.

Multiplastics is the custom plastics thermoforming fabrication and design division of Mount Pleasant, SC-based Curd Enterprises. Under the Multiplastics trade name, the company manufactures equipment and parts for industries, including: food service, medical, display, electrical, furniture, telecommunications, refrigeration and air conditioning.

"Multiplastics is strictly custom thermoforming, with no minimum quantities," says owner Deborah Waddell, who took over the reigns of the business in 1983. (For a brief history of the company, see sidebar on page 27.) Since April 1997, the company has been ISO 9001 certified. "It has helped open doors for us," says Lola Carere, sales coordinator.

"We have had as many as 23 different projects in the shop at one time," says Waddell, adding that 10 concurrent projects is more typical. Multiplastics employs approximately 50 people in the plant, working three shifts, five days a week.

"One of the advantages of custom thermoforming is that there is no cyclicity &emdash; we don't suffer from customer downtime. We always have other things going on," says Carere.

To keep up with production demands, the company recently moved to an 89,000-square-foot plant, located across the street from its 59,000-square-foot facility. General offices, design, and Multiplastics production are located in the new facility. Housed in the smaller plant is research and development, prototyping and the production line for Curd's navigational aids, including buoys and floats. (See sidebar on Curd's Buoys, page 28.)

Multiplastics maintains its diversified, high production schedule by using a cell system for forming and fabricating. "This means the parts go directly from the vacuum formers, to the (dedicated cell) CNC machines, to assembly, and down to shipping or inventory," says Paul Spies, vice president.

Employee teams are assigned to each of the cells. "The team on the line is responsible for quality control on the final product. We also have an engineer assigned to every job to monitor the quality," Spies adds.

Multiplastics has six formers in the five cell systems; two of the smaller formers are in a single cell. The formers include: one 5-foot by 8-foot Maac twin sheet, an 8-foot by 16-foot four-station Comet rotary former, a three-station Maac rotary former, plus Drypol and Comet single and multi-station formers.

A Brown former is housed in the other building for prototyping and production of the Curd navigational aids.

The formers are used in the cell with CNC routers, which are used extensively in the shop for trimming the formed parts. Multiplastics has five CNC routers, one per production cell. In addition to two 5-foot by 10-foot, five-axis Thermwoods, the company also has two 6-foot by 12-foot, five-axis Motionmasters with eight-position tool changers, and a 5-foot by 10-foot Motionmaster four-axis router. Carbide and high speed steel bits from Onsrud Cutter are used in the routers.

"Everything is trimmed, fabricated and assembled in the cell. All the manufacturing equipment is tied into a complete system," Spies says.

Assembly and fabrication equipment includes: an older model 8-foot by 12-foot Hendrick panel saw, a newly-purchased 10-foot by 14-foot Hendrick saw, an SCM overhead router, three table saws, various hand-held routers, a polyurethane foam dispensing system, high volume adhesive system, two ultrasonic welders, two Drader plastic welders and a spin welder.

According to Spies, one of the unique aspects of Multiplastics' work is its involvement in forming dissimilar materials. "For one twin-sheet application that used acrylic and polycarbonate, we had to preheat the polycarbonate (which heats at 400F vs. 300F for acrylic), insert it into the mold, then let the acrylic form over it. Everyone said we couldn't do it, but the part was formed together, then trimmed out.

"We'll also do a lot with dissimilar gauges," Spies adds. "Right now we're working on a range of approximately 0.0050-inch total." Examples of twin-sheet products produced by Multiplastics include dunnage trays and pallets.

The company typically uses 12 types of materials for its products: PETG, vinyl, CAB, acrylic, styrene, ABS, polycarbonate, Kydex fire-rated acrylic/PVC sheet from Kleerdex Co., polyethylene, mineral-filled polyethylene, PVC and ABS/PVC blend. Because of the high volume used, Multiplastics often purchases material directly from the manufacturer, Spies says.

"We're always looking at new materials too," Spies continues, citing a test material made from reground rubber tires for possible application in the transportation industry.

Curd's Buoys Since 1970, Curd Enterprises has been manufacturing a complete line of navigational aids for offshore and inland use. Made of thermoformed ABS, the buoys are foam filled using a closed-cell polyurethane foam which will not degrade, even if the shell is punctured. According to Deborah Waddell, Curd president, the company entered the market after it was approached by the South Carolina Marine Resources Division to design a nd produce an offshore reef fishing buoy. Since then, it has produced navigational buoys for other state and government agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy and Army Corps of Engineers. In addition to Curd's standard line of navigational buoys, the company offers other navigational products such as custom fast water and ice spar buoys, standard and custom floats, and artificial and primary finishing reef buoys. A listing of products can be found on Curd's Web site, www.curdbuoy.com

Evaluation of new and existing project materials, as well as product design and prototyping, comes under the arm of Multiplastics' six man in-house engineering staff.

"We'll meet with a customer, and see what exactly they want to do. We'll also look to see if it fits in with our business and if it is a good application for plastics. Then we'll work with the customer on the design, get approval on each step and run a full-size prototype before beginning production," Waddell explains. All designs created by Curd/Multiplastics are copyrighted.

"With any new product development, you're taking the client's dream and making it a reality," adds Darrell Fish, industrial designer.

"Each client has a different approach. Some want you to come up with the design, others have something already done and say 'this is what we need.' We'll then take that design concept and work with the CAD people. I am a firm believer in 'show and tell;' it's a lot easier for the client to then make a decision," he continues.

AutoCAD 13 and SurCAM Version 7 are used for much of the design work. From concept to production, "the process can take anywhere from three weeks to six months, though a typical time is 10-12 weeks," Carere says.

One project which took six months, including a twin-sheet solid modeling, consisted of trays used for a drainage system to protect a salt marsh. According to Waddell, the trays were formed from HDPE with 15 percent talc for rigidity. Each tray was 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, 131Ú2 inches deep and weighed 521Ú2 pounds.

Approximately 1,900 of these trays &emdash; stretching nearly three miles in length &emdash; now hang from the bridge leading from U.S. 17 (mainland) to Isle of Palms. The drainage system trays are used to catch rubber, oil, gas or other chemical runoff from the bridge which could otherwise contaminate the oyster beds and marshes of Swinton Creek and Hamlin Creek.

The diversity and creativity which goes into a project such as this have helped bring in new business and keep the company thriving, Waddell says. "Because of the diverse type of work we can do, we'll tend to get a lot of our business through word of mouth and networking," she adds.

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Plastics Machining & Fabricating
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