LUDLOW, MA—Meredith-Springfield Associates Inc., a plastics manufacturer specializing in blow-molded bottles, recently broke ground to add 5,000 square feet of light manufacturing space to its plant here. The company will also add 12,000 square feet of warehouse space, and three new loading docks in a 1,000-square-foot addition, bringing the total facility to 83,000 square feet.

“It has been a challenge to meet the needs of our growing business with our existing space,” says President and CEO Mel O’Leary. “This investment in the building and manufacturing equipment allows us to better plan for the future and increase efficiencies. It will give us room to grow while enhancing our manufacturing and warehouse spaces.”

The larger footprint makes way for six top-of-the-line machines to automate production and increase capacity. Meredith-Springfield will install two new extrusion blow molding machines, a Bekum 155 and R&B/Sika 850 long stroke, as well as an Aoki AL-1000 injection stretch blow molding machine. The manufacturer has also acquired three new, fully automatic Dyco Baggers, and a Mexan Automation Semi-automatic Bagger. These machines will automate bottle discharges from the machines after their production with attached conveyors offering leak checks and visual inspections. Then, the baggers will palletize the finished products, readying them for shipping while eliminating the use of corrugated boxes.

“Our goal is to serve our customers with reduced lead times, and higher-quality products that are more sustainably packaged,” notes O’Leary. “We’re all very excited to start this next phase in our company’s evolution.”

Since its founding in 1979, Meredith-Springfield has offered extrusion and coextrusion (double and triple layer) blow molding and injection stretch blow molding of PET, HDPE, PP, PVC, PA, ePET, TPE, TPU, ABS, LDPE and fluoropolymers for clients spanning the globe. Notable customers include American Distilling, B&G Foods, Henkel, Honeywell LifeMade Products, PepsiCo and Reebok.

“To to be able to expand our headquarters where our company was born is important to who we are,” concludes O'Leary.