Inline Plastics Corp., Shelton, Connecticut, has expanded and increased manufacturing capabilities in response to what it calls the continued growth of food packaging products.
Inline Plastics is a manufacturer of crystal clear PET clamshell and two-piece packaging. Inline Plastics’ packaging is used in fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, salads, a variety of grab-and-go foods, baked goods and deli items. The company also has a line of wash-down, automated equipment to load, close and label containers.
Installation of new large platform, roll-fed thermoforming machines—as well as mid-sized machines with increased flexibility, including attendant support equipment—has taken place in the past 12 months at all three of Inline Plastics’ manufacturing facilities. These facilities are located in Shelton; McDonough, Georgia; and Salt Lake City, Utah. Part of this investment has included a new mid-sized machine for Inline’s Research and Development facility in Milford, Connecticut, which will be utilized to further support new product development efforts.
In addition to the new production lines, Inline has added 157,200 s.f. of manufacturing and warehouse space to the Georgia facility and currently is pursuing options to expand its Connecticut and Utah plants.
“As our business continues to grow, we are committed to continuously invest in capacity to ensure we have sufficient capacity to support our customers’ requirements and maintain our very high fill rates,” said Inline VP of Operations Jim Porcaro.
Porcaro says existing and future supermarket, foodservice, distributor and processor customers will realize several key benefits from the expansion:
• Consistent lead times: Appropriate local product inventory will enable customers to carry lower levels of inventory, resulting in increased inventory turns;
• Increased flexibility on special orders or service situations: Production and inventory planning is optimized to reflect the specific product needs of each region; and
• Local production capacity/capabilities: Enables Inline to run all of its most popular items at each manufacturing facility.
