PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Friday, July 2, 2010

Contact: Noel LaBine 763-477-3086

T.O. Plastics holds Open House in Otsego

 

Wright County – On June 16 th T.O. Plastics held an open house at their new Otsego facility, which is located in the Duke Realty building off of Highway 101. Packaging engineers from all of the major medical device manufacturing companies were visitors to learn more about the clean room packaging and sophisticated processing services that this new plant offers.

T. O. Plastics is a robust company located in Clearwater , MN , that currently employs 164 full-time employees, plus an additional 30 temps according to their COO, Bill Brand. This is a slight increase in headcount at T.O. as compared to this same time last year. T.O. is operating two, four day, ten hour shifts, and their plastic extrusion area is operational 24/7. The company has been in business for over 60 years. It was purchased in 2001 by The Otter Tail Corporation, who owns 12 different manufacturing companies. The acquisition by Otter Tail has allowed them easier access to capital to finance upgrades and their recent expansion of their Research and Development (R&D) department.

In the last year, T.O. expanded their engineering department to include 6 full-time engineers who have both thermoforming experience and black belt six-sigma expertise. Some of their recent R&D efforts are focused on biodegradable plastic options such as corn-based plastics.

The products manufactured at T.O. Plastics generally fall into one of six categories: Consumer Goods, Electronics, Food, Horticulture, Industrial and Medical products and packaging. One of the in-line custom designed products they were manufacturing recently is a plastic container for deep-cell batteries. Another recent custom designed product is a plastic cover for a data science laboratory machine.

On the medical side, 3M is currently using T.O. for R&D on plastic prototype materials. T.O. is also working with Boston Scientific and American Medical Systems. Due to the high tolerances required in the medical industry, T.O. has state-of-the-art facilities and equipment. T.O. Plastics' Otsego facility has both 10,000 and 100,000 clean-rooms and is ISO 9001:2008 certified. They also utilize a coordinated measuring machine (CMM) that measures in micro units as low as 70 millionths of an inch, and frequently use a milling machine that overnight can make a 4-dimensional plastic prototype mold off of a computer design.

At this time of year, T.O.'s horticulture products are prominent in their production area. They have been making horticultural containers out of recycled plastic for many years. T.O. purchases approximately 11 million pounds of recycled plastic annually, including styrene, ABS, and polypropylene. T.O. is proud of its commitment to environmental responsibility. Their manufacturing process begins with 100% recycled resins and continues with zero waste, as they extrude their own sheet and roll stock. All scrap by-product is immediately re-routed to a grinder and re-made into more roll stock, and the manufacturing process repeats. This is a 100% closed loop system that produces no plastic scrap waste.

 

The Partnership exists to enhance the business climate of Wright County and to help create more jobs in Wright County . The strategies the Partnership uses to achieve its mission include being an information resource and finding technical assistance; aiding business development through Business Retention & Expansion visits, providing financing resources, and providing business information and training through seminars and workshops. Also, the Partnership markets Wright County to business site locators, and maintains an excellent website, which includes a listing of commercial and industrial property available in Wright County (see www.wrightpartnership.org ). The Partnership also assists with Workforce Development and has gathered economic statistical information, which is available on its website.