Ironwood Plastics turns 40

IRONWOOD - Ironwood Plastics, an injection molding company in the industrial park, celebrated 40 years of business with an open house on Thursday.

Ironwood Plastics opened in 1979 and underwent a major expansion in 1995, and has grown to become one of the largest employers in the area with 147 full time workers, said Theresa Turula, human resources manager.

The celebration was a chance for the community to visit the facility at a time when hiring is a challenge in all job sectors, Turula said. But more importantly, the families of the workers can come in and see what their loved ones do at the facility, she said.

"We are a very family oriented employer and we believe our people are our greatest assets," Turula said.

"Our son works here," said Mary Ann Erickson, of Ironwood, who toured the plant with her husband Tom.

Dave Zielinski, business development manager, showed guests some of the varied products that are made at the plant for clients in the military, automotive, fire safety, electronics and medical industries.

Emily Hunt, production team leader, and Nathan Magdziak, warehouse supervisor, led tours of the plant to show what the tooling engineers, mold makers, machine operators, quality control, warehouse and shipping people do at the plant. The five-and-six-access robotic injection machines make tiny parts barely visible along with complex components that insert wiring and electronics within plastic moldings and computerized assembly can put multiple components together.

"The technology really helps with accuracy," Turula said. "People say robots take away jobs but it's really just the opposite. It allows our people to do higher level tasks."

The material handling room where moisture and temperature controlled plastics are routed to the several mold injection machines in the plant underwent a $1.6 million upgrade in May, she said.

"It gives us better and faster drying ability to ensure proper temperature and more durable materials," she said. "It's much more efficient and gives us a better product."

The technology and workforce is essential to compete as a global company that ships products all over the world, Turula said. The plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

As a transportation hub Ironwood is not the ideal location for many clients, she said. But after visiting the facility many clients choose to contract here based on what they see is made and how it is made, she said.

"With our investment in people and technology I have no doubt we will be here for another 40 years," Turula said. "I would consider us state of the art."

Turula said she started at Ironwood Plastics as a product inspector 36 years ago. She pursued every opportunity and challenge presented to her and is now the human resource manager.

"We have a lot of training from within to allow us to raise people when those opportunities come," she said. "The person who is going to do really well here is somebody who wants to work, and is willing to learn something new every day and accept every challenge that is thrown to them."