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Team 1 Plastics Bids Farewell to Press #4

After 28 years of faithful service to Team 1 Plastics, a plastic injection molding company for the transportation industry, Press #4 retired in December 2017. Press #4 had served Team 1 longer than any other press or any Team Member except for the co-owners, Craig Carrel and Gary Grigowski. “It was tough to let Press #4 go,” Carrel said, “but it was time.”

The 180-metric ton Nissei injection molding press began its career with Team 1 Plastics in 1989 during the company’s infancy – back when the company was still located in the Albion Economic Development’s Business Incubator. At the time, Press #4 was the largest press that Team 1 Plastics owned. When the company moved into its brand new plant in 1992, Press #4 moved in as well.

Grigowski said that he has many memories of the years with Press #4. For instance, Press #4 is famous for being the machine on which the garnish part ran which almost shut down a Ford plant in Mexico. Of course, it wasn’t that Press #4 wasn’t doing its job effectively – it was the mold that was the problem.

Over the past 28 years, Press #4 has witnessed many changes at Team 1. Back in 1989, each injection molding press required a dedicated operator. According to Grigowski, Press #4 typically ran jobs which required the operator to manually cut off “gates” from the parts and to hand pack the finished parts into boxes. He described the process. “Press #4 would open, and it would eject the part it just produced into a cushioned box. The operator would grab the part out of the cushioned box, inspect it, clip it, and pack it into the shipping box. Then, the operator waited for Press #4 to finish making the next part.”

As technology has changed and advanced, so have the processes and efficiencies at Team 1. Now, every injection molding press has at least one robot dedicated to it. At the time of its retirement, Press #4 was located in Zone 1 where one operator can run up to ten presses.

Much has changed at Team 1 Plastics since 1989 – and much has changed in the world. Back in 1989, President George Bush (Sr.) became President. The Berlin Wall was torn down. Nintendo began selling Game Boys. Disney released The Little Mermaid. Toyota launched its luxury brand, Lexus, and the first of 24 satellites for the Global Positioning System (GPS) was placed into orbit.

To replace Press #4, Team 1 Plastics has installed a new 250-metric ton Sumitomo injection molding machine, Press #50.

Team 1 Plastics wished Press #4 well on its well-deserved retirement as it literally “rode off into the sunset.”