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The TPR
interviewed Roland Beck, president of Tessy Plastics in Elbridge, NY, to
find out how this company has achieved such remarkable growth in recent
years despite a challenging global market.
What is your company niche, and what does your company do that is notable, unique or different?
deodorant, and also mold some electronics products such as
When and how did you get into the industry, what attracted you to it?
Relate a notable "best time" for your company. Whenever we’ve gotten nice new products – that’s always a good time. In addition, when we make a certain amount of profit we then share that with the employees, from the janitor on up. Most recently each employee received a check for $700. When it all comes together it translates into success, and being able to share it with our employees is one of my prouder moments. Similarly, relate notable challenges that your company has overcome.
When you are working on projects with your customers, what aspects would you like them to better recognize? Our engineering staff’s capabilities in terms of product design. When our customers are making a part, we like to offer them better ways to do it. We strive to give them better alternatives that help save on part or materials cost, production times or anything that would help improve the outcome. List newly acquired technology, machinery or key personnel (in last year).
The majority of our machines are electric molding machines. They’ve become much more popular because they are more efficient than hydraulic and also save on energy costs. It just makes sense to invest in electric machines. Has your company recently expanded? Plans to expand or form partnerships/alliances? No alliances – we’re keeping it in the family for now. This is the third expansion
for us, however. In 2003 we did a 60,000-square-foot addition; in 2004
we added an additional 40,000 square feet; and this year we are adding
another 40,000 square feet. The key
Are you involved in any industry organizations or educational programs related to the trade? We have our own apprenticeship program and are members of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). We run two youngsters at a time through our internal apprenticeship program, which are six-month programs. They have been pretty successful for us and we’ve found some sharp kids who wanted to learn. What do you think about changes occurring in the industry due to globalization? How has it affected the way you do business?
As for globalization, there is less work in the U.S. because there is cheaper labor in other countries. The differences I see are that less sophisticated and labor-intensive work is mainly what is leaving the U.S. We have a plant in Shanghai, China, because many of our customers moved their factories there. If we were going to be able to keep their business we had to be right there next to them in China. Most of the parts we produce there stay there, actually, while our U.S. locations serve the North American market. I have a job that was supposed to go to China but we figured out a way to keep it here, saving six jobs here. It’s worked out great, the customer is happy and we don’t have to worry about shipping parts back here from China. We have added 200 jobs in the last four years here in NY, so we are working to keep the U.S. side of the industry strong while still serving our multinational customers in other parts of the world. What will the industry look like in 3 to 5 years? Boy, in my opinion, I think a lot of the molders in the auto industry are going to be in trouble and I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes. Whenever you open up industry publications it’s about who is filing chapter 11 and other bad news from that industry. Those are the companies I feel sorry for. Even with the Delphi’s, etc., they take molders right with them. The margins are so tight anyway… It used to be a great way to make a living, but no more. I decided three years ago to get out of that market and it’s one of the best decisions I made. Automotive made up 30% of our business at one time, but now it’s only 7%. Additional Background Information: Number of years in business: Established 1973 Current number of employees: 580 in Elbridge, NY; 220 in Lynchburg; 250 in Shanghai Current square footage: Lynchburg 50,000; Shanghai 60,000 and NY will be at 300,000 when addition is done in January 2007. Additional locations:
Shanghai Website: www.tessy.com Types of tools built and/or run: Plastic injection molding, majority of tooling built in the U.S. Run high precision tooling up to 128 cavities; the majority of tooling has hot runner systems. The company also runs 2-shot tooling. Industries served: Medical, Consumer Products, Electronics, and some Automotive Contact Information:
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Well that’s easy. My dad
started the business in 1973 and just retired five years ago. I grew up
in the industry and I’ve been doing this since I was 11 years old.
We do things like that for
just about every customer. We offer automation, alternatives to design
and engineering support for every project. We recently bought a 2-shot
machine to help a customer with a molding challenge. 
We’ve added some key
personnel including a new production manager. We will invest $3 million
this year on new molding machines and about $3 million in other related
equipment and needs for the building due to expansion.
to being able to achieve this kind
of growth includes ensuring that every one of your customers is
profitable; they can’t be losing money or you’ll lose money. Every
employee on board also has to be profitable. The margins just aren’t
big enough in this business to afford anything less.
There are certain markets
that have become much more competitive than others. But we’ve been able
to know what markets to pursue and which not to pursue. We’re also
fortunate to have the staff and the capital to go after the markets that
will help us succeed, such as medical. I think a lot of companies that
have old equipment and do not have the staff or capital to support that
industry in terms of achieving the ISO certifications and cleanroom
standards that medical industry customers require won’t be successful
serving that market. 
Virginia
