CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (March 10, 2015) Americhem Inc., a global provider of custom color and additive solutions for the polymer industry, has recently completed the installation of two small lot manufacturing workcells at its Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, plant. Designed to upgrade service to its customers, these workcells, plus other improvements to the plants manufacturing area, will add three million pounds of capacity to the facility.

"We've added these workcells to increase service, cost effectiveness and reduce lead times for our customers," said Matthew Miklos, Americhems commercial vice president and general manager for the Americas. "With the increasing demand for smaller lot sizes of our masterbatch products, Americhem has answered the call with this new capacity. The project has been supported start to finish with world-class manufacturing equipment, workflow and Lean manufacturing techniques."

The plant has arranged the resources in its production environment to improve the quality, speed and cost of the masterbatch manufacturing process. With two new manufacturing lines arranged within workcells, the plant is improving process flow and eliminating waste. The cells start with the flow of raw materials from receiving, to a compounding area dedicated to the new lines. Next, a new raw material lift brings the compounded materials to the lines, eliminating the need for tow motors. The cells also include two new pelletizers capable of creating multiple product forms.

"This new small lot capacity will be directly targeted to those demands and will also increase the quality and consistency of small lots," expressed Miklos. "At the same time, we're able to speed change-over times, allowing more products to be produced for all of our customers."

In addition to the small lot capacity, the Ohio plant has rearranged and upgraded workflow in other areas. The plants re-crystallizer has been relocated and outfitted with new material handling capabilities. In addition, bar coding has been instituted in its compounding area, increasing quality control and maximizing effective inventory control.

"We're very proud of the improvements that have taken place at our facility," remarked Linda Manfull, plant manager. "All of these changes have been made with our customers in mind, upgrading capabilities where they need them the most. When we're more efficient, they can be more efficient in producing high-quality products for their customers."

For more information, visit americhem.com or contact Scott Blanchard at sblanchard@americhem.com.