BARBERTON, Ohio—Preferred Compounding Corp. is continuing to expand its growing operation, this time with a new facility adjacent to its existing plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Its wholly owned subsidiary, Preferred Compounding de Mexico, plans to add another compounding facility in San Luis Potosi to increase its production and warehouse space by more than 70 percent.
It signed a 10-year lease—effective Jan. 1, 2017—on a 57,000 sq.-ft. building next to its present 80,000-sq.-ft. mixing facility in the city, a spokesman said.
The addition will increase the company's combined space at its two Mexican sites to 137,000 square feet.
“We continue to grow and will need more space to stay ahead of demand,” said Scott Lieberman, president of Preferred Compounding de Mexico and executive vice president of Barberton-headquartered Preferred.
He said that when the building in San Luis Potosi became available, the company moved quickly to secure the space. “Location doesn't get any better than this,” he said.
“We're growing faster than the market,” Lieberman said, “but keeping our focus on the fundamentals of quality and delivery. What customers and prospects are telling us is that they appreciate our value-add focus on customer service and the business relationship.”
He noted that when the firm performs, its customers can achieve their objectives.
Management at Preferred still is working on plans to determine how each building will be used in the future, according to the spokesman.
Preferred Compounding de Mexico provides custom compounds and services primarily to the Mexican operations of U.S., Asian and European parts manufacturers.
Additional services the company offers include flexible supply and materials agreements, compound development, improvement and testing resources, and the firm's MixLoc Quality Program, which includes 24/7 online access to quality data and more, it said.
The firm's existing plant in San Luis Potosi, which mixes black compounds and employs 115, is ISO 9001:2008 certified and was purchased by Preferred in 2012 from a Spanish company.
Preferred expects to continue to increase employment at the site through 2017, the spokesman said.
It added a Farrel F-270 black mixer in early 2013 at the factory and in 2015 expanded the plant by 15,000 square feet and brought a second Farrel F270 black mixer on line. The mixers and controls are identical to ones in use at Preferred's facilities in Tennessee and Georgia.
It also has two plants in Barberton—one is used for black rubber compounding while the second one handles color compounding.
In early October, the company said it planned to move its headquarters staff to a new building in Copley, Ohio, and free up additional space at the Barberton complex for production. The move likely will take place in early 2017.
In 2015, the firm added an ISO/IEC 17025;2005 research and development laboratory at its Barberton complex. Once it was paired with existing production testing facilities at the plants, coupled with the overall growth of the company, the need for additional space became more apparent, a Preferred official said.