For nearly 40 years, Ontario's automotive manufacturers have been very good to Cambridge, Ontario based Latem and Plastico Industries. The sister companies got their start removing sharp edges, washing and shot blasting parts as a high volume metal finishing job shop in Waterloo, under the Latem Industries flag.
As the years passed, Latem added equipment to become a single-source supplier, and to expand their client base to include non-automotive based companies. While the automotive industry still makes up the vast majority of their business, they are now servicing the agricultural sector, military and aerospace, heavy equipment and the furniture industries.
To compliment their offereing, in 1998, Ownership opened Plastico Industries in Cambridge. And in 2012, they built an addition on to Plastico, and moved Latem to the other side of the building, adding true value to customers who were in the market for coatings, but also required some finishing work beforehand.
Located right off the 401, Latem and Plastico Industries boasts a 100,000 square foot metal finishing and specialty coatings operation, processing well over 20 million parts monthly.
Their growth continues as Plastico Industries is proud to announce a new plastisol line, capable of processing parts up to 10' x 8' x 3 feet deep. This new line is ideal for larger parts in both small and high volumes, in automotive and non-automotive. As a matter of fact, the new line is in response to demand from a playground equipment manufacturer.
"Our new plastisol line just makes sense, as it's a business we are already successful in" says Dave Mattingly, Sales and Marketing Manager. "We know this business well. We also have the distinct advantage of making our own plastisol, so it allows us to be competitive."
While playground equipment may have been what brought the line to Plastico, Dave and his team are hoping to build on that as the operation is capable of so much more. "There are many companies in our marketplace that require a protective coating on their coating racks, be it chrome platers, powder coaters, etc., and there is no better coating for this, than plastisol."
Plastico's new line is expected to be fully operational in April