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(March
18, 2010) Franklin, Kentucky [from the Franklin Favorite]
Another line will create 20 openings by end of year.
The Danafilms plant in Franklin is planning to double the size of its
manufacturing space and to add 20 more jobs by the end of the year.
Construction equipment is already at the facility, which was the first
industry to locate in the Wilkey North Industrial Park in 2000.
“We are extremely excited to see them double their facility in
Franklin. Danafilms is becoming one of our premier manufacturers in
Franklin,” Franklin-Simpson Industrial Authority Chairman Gary Broady
said.
Danafilms currently has 50,000 square feet and plans to add another
50,000 square feet to its Franklin location. The maker of specialty
high-quality films is also projecting employment to climb from 30 to
50 when the expansion is completed.
The $7 million addition will make room for a new co-extrusion line and
accommodate future growth, according to a press release from the
Franklin-Simpson Industrial Authority.
The new Windmoeller & Hoelscher seven-layer blown co-extrusion film
line will also double the plant’s co-extrusion capacity.
“Adding this equipment is not just about redundancy or doubling our
capacity,” said Aaron LaPointe, the co-extrusion technical manager at
Danafilms. “This really allows us to cut the lead times for coextruded
products. We do a lot of custom work, tweaking the properties of the
films. With a seven-layer co-extrusion, we can provide very precise
properties in the most cost-effective configuration possible. With a
second line available, we can get the finished work to the customer
much faster.”
LaPointe described the new line “a fantastic piece of equipment with
the latest bells and whistles.”
Danafilms’ new line will be on display at the world’s largest trade
show for plastics and rubber - the 2010 K Show - in Germany Oct. 27 to
Nov. 3.
“We are really pleased to have our name in front of this international
audience on this state-of-the-art co-extrusion line,” LaPointe said.
Danafilms was started in 1970 in Westborough, Mass. just outside of
Boston by company President and CEO Sherman V. Olson. It has plants in
Westborough and Franklin.
“As a mid-size, privately-owned company, we have reinvested our
profits in to the business by constantly upgrading our production
facilities,” the company’s Web site says.
Danafilms’ existing facilities can accommodate enough additional lines
to produce over 100 million pounds per year. A seven-layer blown film
co-extrusion line was added to the Franklin plant in 2005, and it
increased capacity from 40 million to 56 million pounds per year.
“We are making room not only for this new co-extrusion line but for
enhanced material handling and future expansion down the line. This
new line gives us 7.5 to 8 million pounds of new capacity,” said Steve
Crimmin, the sales manager at Danafilms. “Our goal is to constantly
improve customer efficiencies and throughput. This will be Danafilms’
16th line. It gives us the opportunity to bring more value to our
customer.”
Danafilms manufactures premium monolayer and coextruded barrier films
for a wide variety of specialty applications and markets, including
lawn/garden, pet food/supplies, food packaging, electronic packaging
and industrial products such as films, tapes and release liners. It
supplies converters with monolayer and multi-layer films designed to
process well and stand up to the rigors of laminating, printing,
coating and converting.
The right films in packaging, for instance, can make products more
attractive to the consumer. These films facilitate the printing of
higher quality graphics, keep foods fresher and even allow meals to be
cooked in the bag.
Gray Construction, which built the original Danafilms plant here, will
also handle the expansion. The new line should be operational by the
end of the year.
“These are some much-needed jobs coming to our county,” Simpson County
Judge/Executive Jim Henderson said.
This makes the fourth positive economic development announcement in
Franklin this year. The three others will lead to a total of about 100
new jobs.
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