The Polykemi Group’s fifth manufacturing unit was inaugurated in April, making North America Polykemi’s third continent with in-house production. In conjunction with the inauguration of the new plant in Gastonia, subsidiary Polykemi Inc. also celebrated its 10th anniversary with food, music and a guided tour for the around 100 invitees.
Swedish American celebrations
To celebrate the opening of the plant in Gastonia and the milestone it constitutes, Polykemi invited guests to a ceremony and festivities. The facility’s 20 employees and their families were invited along with customers, the owning family, board of directors, management team and other colleagues from Sweden as well as local politicians, property developers and suppliers from the USA.
“Many of us had worked together for a long time to complete the plant. Not only did we finally get to showcase it for customers and suppliers, but also for our colleagues from Sweden who helped us during the project. It was a fantastically successful and enjoyable day,” says Johan Hugoson, CEO Polykemi Inc.
Polykemi’s global development
As a global supplier, Polykemi’s goal is to deliver customer adapted plastic compounds of consistently high quality, based on both virgin and recycled materials worldwide.
“The Gastonia plant represents a major step toward achieving our global goals by providing the North and South American markets with our materials. And it’s really special that this is happening during Polykemi Inc’s 10th year, and I wish our founder Hugo Jönsson could have been here to see how far we’ve already come on our journey,” says Hugoson.
Opening a manufacturing unit in North America has already made a splash.
“Setting up the new factory has brought us closer to our customers, and gives both us and our customers greater confidence in increased collaboration. We have already seen a major increase in material requests and greater interest in our products, especially those containing high-quality recycled raw materials,” says Hugoson.
The plant in Gastonia, North Carolina
The manufacturing unit in Gastonia is Polykemi Group’s fifth, and the start earlier this spring means Polykemi now has in-house production on three continents.
Floor space in the Gastonia factory totals around 60,000 ft.² (5500 m²) and houses offices, stores, workshops, a fully equipped laboratory for testing and quality analysis and two extrusion lines with a total production capacity of 6,500 metric tons.
The plant is now in full use and provides the American market with customized plastic granules based on both new and recycled plastic raw materials of the highest quality.