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Tropical Industrial plastics manufactures polypropylene tanks for plating circuit boards and otherelectronic components. By Karen M. Koenig The phrases "custom fabrication" and "welded tanks" do not often go hand in hand. But for one Clearwater, FL-based plastics manufacturer, the two phrases make for a winning combination. "I decided to make custom plastic tanks because with molded tanks, you're limited by the size of the mold," says Gary Edens, owner of Tropical Industrial Plastics. "Custom fabrication is our niche," adds Drew Knight, general manager. "We'll manufacture tanks 8 inches by 8 inches, and at the same time be working on one 8 feet by 8 feet," Knight says. According to Knight, the majority of plating tanks are used in the circuit board and semi-conductor industries. "Any type of chemical processing," he adds. In addition, the company manufactures the consoles that process the circuit boards for a variety of customers including Motorola and Honeywell. The majority of tanks, 80 to 85 percent, are made from polypropylene which the company purchases from a variety of sources including Roechling, HPG and Compression Polymers. "We specialize in polypropylene tanks," Knight says. "Polypropylene is versatile, low cost, very chemical resistant, and is lightweight yet durable," he adds. "We mainly use types of materials that are chemical resistant," Knight says. PVC (Vycom) and CPVC, polyethylene (Roechling and Compression Polymers) and some UHMW (Roechling) are also used. "If we're quoting for a line, we'll ask what the chemistry is and we'll also find out what temperature they're going to heat to. For example, if they're going to heat to a consistent 190 degrees, then we'll typically recommend polypropylene. If it's going to be consistently higher, then we will recommend PVDF or Kynar (Nytef Plastics)," Knight adds. With regards to tank and console designs, Tropical Industrial Plastics typically works from specifications generated by the customers. "We do have an engineer we can consult with and will aid customers with designs, but typically the customer will have his own design specs. We will offer suggestions on materials based on the physical characteristics of the plating," Knight says.
One of the new markets Tropical Industrial Plastics is exploring for its tanks is the fire apparatus industry. "We're talking water tanks and foam tanks. We sell a lot of material to these industries," Knight says. "Most of the material used in these markets is a polypropylene copolymer which is approximately 93 percent polypropylene and 7 percent polyethylene. It makes for a material that has a higher impact and better low temperature rating," he adds. Another venture Tropical Industrial is exploring is polypropylene tanks used in the mosquito industry for spraying chemicals. Because tanks are not processed from a mold, Tropical Industrial Plastics has the capability to manufacture them in just about any size imaginable "We recently did one tank that was 20 feet long by 8 feet wide by 6 feet high," Knights adds. Six fabricators are involved in the manufacturing process. "Many of them started with basic cabinetry skills: measuring, cutting... The same techniques for wood apply to plastic except instead of nailing, we are welding, which is taught in-house." Joe Hazewski coordinates the jobs and develops the cutlists for machining. Once material is received in the shop, an older model Peterson panel saw is used to cut to size plastic sheets. After the sheets are cut to size, machining is done using Ryobi hand routers and a Powermatic table saw. The company also has an older model milling machine, manual lathe and an edge belt sander. All seams are welded using oil-free, hot air welding equipment by Wegener and Laramie Products. (See sidebar, this page.) Another employee is in charge of prepping the material for fabricating. "We may use a hand router to put chamfers on it. On large tanks we may also need to reinforce the material with steel," he explains. The company makes its own channels, which are plastic parts used to encapsulate the steel.
Manufacturing these plastic tanks is not a job for lightweights. According to Knight, the average weight of an 8-foot by 8-foot tank with 1-inch thick material is 1,600 pounds. When you add steel reinforcements, it can make the tank weigh upwards of 3,000 pounds. In addition to tanks, Tropical Industrial Plastics will also fabricate PVC hood and exhaust systems as well as components for the tanks. "We run, on average, 20 jobs at once," Knight says. "There's also no minimum or maximum quantities.We'll build just one tank, or 65 or more." According to Knight, the company gets much of its fabricating business through word of mouth. A lot of work is through repeat business for corporations. Fabricator and distributor Fabrication accounts for approximately 35 percent of Tropical Industrial Plastics' business. The other 65 percent comes from distribution. A long-time member of the International Association of Plastics Distributors, the company sells sheet, rod, tubing and film. Types of material include: ABS, acetal, acrylic, CAB, CPVC, Delrin, HDPE/LDPE, nylon, PEEK, PET, PETG, PVC, PVDF, phenolics, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polyurethane, styrene, teflon and UHMW. The company carries products from Roechling, HPG, Ensinger, Vycom, Compression Polymers, Nytef and Gehr Plastics. "We'll do cut-to-size. We also try to specialize in offcuts," Knight says. In its warehouse, the company also stocks pipe, valves, fittings, hose clamps and specialty fittings. "We're a one-stop shop," Knight says. "We pick up a lot of business that way." As a small privately-owned company, he adds, "We have to be more service-oriented than most." Click here to go to the PMF feature archives.
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