Things were a whole lot different back then. Plastic Engineering Inc. originally started out as a raw material distributor for plastics (think plastic sheet/rod/tube) with the hope that we would one day grow into the end processor, (the ones taking the raw material and turning it into something cool and amazing). The idea being that we could cut out the middle man and pass the savings on to our customers.
Initially, we started BY fabricating plastics (think woodshop in high school, except you’re working with Plexiglas) and made things like point-of-purchase displays, price tag holders, literature displays, etc. for major retailers, banks, grocery stores, gas stations. Looking back, none of this was real glamorous… BUT, I can promise that whoever is reading this has unknowingly seen something we made.
Fabrication was nice, but we were shooting for something BIGGER.
There was a large aerospace company located directly across the street from us whose engineers would regularly stop in. We would work on projects together on an engineering level to look at alternate materials to reduce weight, improve performance, switch from metal to plastic materials and most often to reduce cost. They fell in love with us and would often say “you know, if you had some CNC equipment, we could keep you pretty busy.” So we took a leap of faith and back around 2001, we purchased our first CNC Router, Mill and Lathe.
Fast-forward about 10 years later, a couple of our largest Aerospace/Defense customers were struggling with a project. We had been supplying both with raw materials by the truckload and all we knew was that it had to do with “Tool Control.” Company A was manufacturing Jet Engines and had a problem with tool loss. The concern being, if a tool/wrench/screw-driver went missing, they would have to stop everything to find it. Can you imagine if a tool accidentally made its way into a jet engine and they didn’t find it? To combat this, they decided they needed 6000 “shadow boards” and began shutting down their entire production line for the last two hours of the everyday to hand-cut them out of soft foam.
Company B was producing missiles and had a similar problem. Their concern wasn’t so much about a tool going missing BUT was more about FOD (Foreign Object Debris – dust, particles, contaminants) making their way into a missile and potentially causing a malfunction. Missile Malfunction???? They needed a demanding material that could hold up to a specific environment. Foam and most other materials actually created FOD and introduced even more problems.
We used our back ground as plastics people to come up with a better solution. First, we developed a light box system that allowed our customers to layout their tools and take a quick picture to create their shadow boards. That meant that Customer A had to take 6000 photos, but this simple solution saved them thousands of man hours. We also used our knowledge of raw materials and developed materials for every application. Ranging from ESD safe, to food safe, to cleanroom safe materials, to something that would be priced similar to soft foam but more robust and wouldn’t break down over time. Thus, GotFOD was created.
Shortly thereafter, we created a partnership with SKB Cases, one of the largest manufacturers of Military, Medical and Industrial cases in the country. We took our Tool Control solution and married that concept into a SKBs high-quality cases, providing our customers another solution for organization and protection. This completed another branch of Plastic Engineering Inc. which is now known as Military Case Solutions.
What’s really exciting for us, our FOD tool control solutions opened a few tightly locked doors to some of the larger aerospace/defense companies in the world. Working with these companies forced us to give our company a facelift. We took the steps to become AS9100D/ISO 9001/ITAR certified, invested in high-end CNC equipment, expanded our engineering resources and brought in top notch employees. Almost immediately, we were flooded with new opportunities, albeit METAL opportunities. With a name like Plastic Engineering, you can imagine the dilemma. So we created a new division of Plastic Engineering and called it Plasteel (Plastic + Steel.)
It’s been quite an evolution over the past 20 years. Nowhere near being a finished product, we are proud of our journey and are extremely excited for whatever the next 20 years has in store!