Million-pound investment ‘Signals’ growth for North East plastics manufacturer

A plastics manufacturing firm has invested more than £1m on fitting out a state-of-the-art new plant and offices in Washington, Tyne & Wear, following increasing demand.

Signal Plastics has moved to the two storey 42,700 sq ft plant on Bentall Business Park having previously been located on Washington’s Crowther Industrial Estate.

The ground floor of the new facility will accommodate Signal Plastics’ manufacturing plant and the first floor will be the new base for staff and management of parent company, Omega Plastics Group.

“We’ve seen significant growth in demand for our high volume automotive moulding range and we needed more space in which to accommodate new plant and machinery,” explained Alan Franklin, Managing Director at Signal Plastics.

“At almost five times the size of our previous site, the unit at Bentall Business Park fits the bill perfectly and by remaining in Washington we’ve been able to ensure a smooth transition for our supply chain partners and employees.

“It also helps being able to house all of our parent company’s staff and management under the same roof so this really is the ideal location for us.”

As well as relocating Signal Plastics, the Omega Plastics Group retains its production facilities in Blyth, Northumberland and Hartlepool on Teesside.

All of Signal Plastics’ 41 employees will be based at Bentall Business Park and the site will also provide hot desks for team members visiting from Blyth and Hartlepool.

New machinery and automation

One of the biggest pieces of machinery to be installed at the site is a new £400,000 1,300 tonne injection moulding press and overhead robotic equipment.  

Signal Plastics’ investment at Washington also includes 800 tonne, 500 tonne and 180 tonne machines and there are plans for further investment in additional new machinery in 2017.

Manufactured by Negri Bossi, the press and auxiliary equipment enables Signal Plastics to produce more and larger parts for the automotive sector.

As well as manufacturing automotive components, Omega Plastics Group provides bespoke rapid and production tooling products and plastic injection moulding to customers across a range of sectors including healthcare, electronics, FMCG and bio-tech.

In November 2016, Omega Plastics Group announced a £200,000 investment in new high-tech machinery to increase productivity at its plant on Teesside.