Westfall Technik Buys Medical Molder AMS Plastics

Holding company Westfall Technik Inc. added AMS Plastics Inc. and AMS's maquiladora Operaciones de Clase Mundial SA de CV to its growing plastics industry portfolio.

Longtime AMS majority owner Tom Plein was the principal seller in the March 16 transaction for the custom molding operation. No real estate was involved. Terms were not disclosed.

AMS Plastics has its business offices in El Cajon, Calif.

The 75,000-square-foot maquiladora is located in an industrial park in the Nueva Tijuana colonia in Tijuana, Mexico.

The business employs about 300, operates 32 injection molding machines with clamping forces of 50-1,000 tons and utilizes a 4,000-square-foot Class 8 clean room. The presses include some with vertical clamp and multi-component molding capabilities.

Medical accounts for about 65 percent of the AMS business with consumer goods responsible for 25 percent and packaging for the remaining 10 percent.

AMS is certified under the ISO 13485:2003 standard for medical devices and the ISO 9001:2008 standard for quality management.

In addition to custom molding, AMS offers value-added secondary services for product decoration and assembly.

In 1983, Plein invested in a predecessor firm that evolved into the current operation. AMS Plastics was incorporated in December 1986.

In the early years, the firm had its plastics processing operations only in an El Cajon plant. Plein opened the maquiladora in Tijuana in 1993. At that time, it occupied 48,000 square feet and eventually expanded and absorbed the El Cajon manufacturing functions.

Westfall Technik has invested in tool makers and injection molders since Managing Director Brian Jones, a plastics industry veteran, formed the Las Vegas-based holding company in 2017.

The firm purchased Fairway Injection Molds Inc. of Walnut Creek, Calif., and Integrity Mold Inc. of Tempe, Ariz., in separate Oct. 18 transactions. On Feb. 9, Westfall Technik acquired 10 Day Parts Inc., formerly Advanced Technology Inc., of Corona, Calif., and Elfy's Inc. of Hayward, Calif.

Now including AMS, the holding company's five businesses operate more than 65 injection molding machines with clamping forces of 35-1,000 tons.

Westfall Technik continues in its expansion mode.

"We still have significant growth plans by means of both organic growth and through acquisition," said Rick Shaffer, another managing director.

In October, New York-based middle-market private equity firms Lee Equity Partners LLC and BlackBern Partners LLC were early investors in Westfall Technik.

Westfall Technik will exhibit May 7-11 at NPE2018 (Booth W23034) in Orlando, Fla.