Mocap spends millions to expand

A Missouri-based plastic cap and plug maker is putting the finishing touches on a major expansion that's more than doubling space while adding new capacity.

The work is part of a $15 million investment Mocap Inc. is making on three continents.

Construction of a new 105,000-sq.-ft. location in Park Hills, Mo., adjacent to the company's existing 75,000-sq.-ft. site is allowing for the installation of new machinery to expand production, said co-owner Greg Miller in a Nov. 30 interview.

Work is complete on the building and the company is now awaiting delivery of the last of the new equipment. Miller expects that to take place in the next two to three months to finalize the project that's been in the works since 2019, he said.

Construction in Park Hills, about an hour south of St. Louis, is part of an overall effort by the company to expand in North America, Asia and Europe, Miller explained.

"The whole idea was to reinforce our strategy by shortening our supply lines to our customers by each region," he said. "It helps us fill those local markets without the crazy global supply chain hiccups we've all been dealing with and lowering those costs to our customers as well."

Mocap, which also has operations in Zhongshan, China, and Sheffield and Telford, England, has taken a new approach to manufacturing in different parts of the world. The company previously moved certain molds and equipment around as needed based on regional demand. But, now, Mocap has decided to replicate manufacturing on all three continents to better serve local markets and avoid logistics challenges that have become more commonplace in the COVID-19 era.

"Every location has the same tools. We've essentially tripled tooling, which is no small feat," Miller said. "And we continue to make new proprietary lines, new molds, each month."

Mocap uses a variety of processes to make products. The Missouri expansion includes doubling the blow molding footprint, tripling injection molding equipment and increasing dip molding capacity by about 30 percent and adding two extrusion lines, Miller said.

Part of the company's expansion in Missouri includes the increased use of automation, but Miller said employment also has increased from about 120 to 150 with the new building.

Expansion in Asia and Europe is taking place within the company's existing footprints by adding new machinery and capabilities.

Along with caps and plugs, Mocap also makes plastic tubes with an emphasis on packaging for the cutting tools market.

Mocap is owned by Greg Miller as well as his father, Joseph Miller, and brother, Paul Miller. Mocap's product line includes caps, plugs, grips and tapes.

The family-owned business continues to funnel profits back into the business based on past success, Greg Miller said.

"With the money Mocap makes, we constantly try to reinvest in each division and every time we do, we always see a payback within a few years. So it's hard to stop those investments," he said.

About 90 percent of Mocap's business is in plastics with the remaining 10 percent in rubber. A key industry for the rubber portion is automotive, Miller explained, and Mocap uses both silicone and EDPM, which withstand higher temperatures, to make masking caps and plugs used during automotive manufacturing.