New Berlin Plastics redefines custom injection molding to deliver unmatched value and quality
More than an injection molder, New Berlin Plastics (NBP) upholds business objectives that mirror the goals of its clients’ organizations while providing them with superior manufacturing and comprehensive value-added services. The NBP team works alongside customers on their project from the very beginning until their vision is achieved. Throughout this process, the focus is on delivering speed, accuracy, quality, cost-efficiency, competence, and value. Karl Held, Owner and Business Development Manager, sheds light on the history of NBP and the evolution of its operations over time.
“NBP was founded in 1975 with an initial ownership group of about six people. However, they had different visions for the business: some of them wanted to focus on a proprietary product, while the rest of them sought to pursue custom injection molding, producing components for other manufacturers and establishing a business-to-business (B2B) organization. As a result, these two groups split, and NBP represents the continuation of the custom injection molding aspect. On the other hand, the group dedicated to proprietary products developed needlepoint rings for decorative needlework and sewing, transitioning from wood to plastic. Unfortunately, their business ended up not sustaining itself, leading to its eventual dissolution. In 2001, one of the original owners still involved with NBP decided to retire, prompting a change in ownership to the current structure. Essentially, there has only been one change in ownership throughout the 50 years that we have been in business, and that was in 2001 when Jeff Held purchased the company with a business partner who has since retired. 
“Since our early days, we have always been located in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Our New Berlin corporate headquarters is the third building we have operated from. However, as the company grew over the years, we moved to larger facilities. In 2022, we acquired a second building located just about a tenth of a mile from our main headquarters. This development allows for additional expansion and provides a runway for future growth, given that at this point we have maximized the production footprint at our headquarters with a fleet of 47 injection molding presses,” he reveals.
With solid roots across several facilities in New Berlin, NBP is empowered to offer a wide array of specialist services to its customers. “As a custom plastic injection molder, we specifically deal with thermoplastics. Essentially, we serve as a contract manufacturer, producing components for various clients, including OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and sometimes Tier 2 suppliers. Occasionally, we also engage with companies that may not fit neatly into these categories. In addition to injection molding, we provide a wide range of value-added services. For example, we offer kitting services where we assemble components, such as those we have molded for aftermarket products for motorcycles, into complete installation kits. We then package everything together in its final form and ensure it is ready for retail on dealer shelves.
“Additionally, we handle pad printing, applying labels, branding, or artwork onto plastic components. We also utilize processes like ultrasonic welding as part of our assembly offerings, an area that we are actively working to expand. While our assembly services have traditionally been linked to our injection molding operations, we are now starting to pursue standalone assembly work as well. We provide a wide variety of value-added services, with approximately half of our production involving some form of post-molding value-added service,” Karl continues.
NBP’s expertise and proficiency in injection molding has been further strengthened ever since the company decided to pursue automation seven years ago, as Karl highlights: “Prior to 2018, we had automation on our production floor but relied on a third party for the installation, implementation, and programming. While we had some basic troubleshooting capabilities, we often found ourselves depending on that third party to assist us with equipment or programming issues. Eventually, we recognized that amidst a continuously growing global marketplace and increasing wage pressures from lower-cost countries, we needed to find a way to mitigate our non-value-added costs. This would help us maintain the competitiveness that our global clients and the companies we want to work with expect from us. Consequently, in 2018, we began developing our own internal automation team and expertise, making significant investments in this group. We now have four dedicated manufacturing engineers, along with a maintenance manager who brings three decades of experience with automation platforms. Notably, we handle all of our design work in-house, including the development of End of Arm Tooling (EOAT) for the overhead Cartesian robots on our machines.
“We have implemented a fleet of Universal Robots (URs) as a collaborative robotics platform on our floor. These robots function like articulated arms, allowing us to design, build, and attach custom end-effectors to perform various tasks. In our case, we have programmed these URs to execute functions like placing inserts onto a shuttle. These inserts are then picked up by the EOAT and loaded into the injection molding tool for overmolding metal inserts, where fasteners will be integrated in other processes downstream from us. In some applications, we use vision systems attached to the ends of the URs to take measurements and do presence sensing, which serves as a quality assurance check. On top of that, we have also implemented vision system checks at various locations within our facility. For instance, we have systems integrated into safety cages that surround the automation, where parts picked by the EOAT are presented to the vision system. This setup also allows for automated clipping of runners still attached to components post-molding. The goal of our automation efforts is to reduce non-value-added labor costs to then reallocate those labor resources to more value-added tasks,” he enlightens.
Refining its processes has been a priority for NBP even years before it embraced automation, as Karl emphasizes. “In 2011, we began applying a five-faceted Scientific Injection Molding philosophy to our production floor that encompasses part design, material, tool design, process, and machine. From a process standpoint, when developing a manufacturing process used for part production, we use in-mold sensing rather than solely relying on machine settings. Whether we are building a new tool or transferring an existing one into our facility, we install sensors that collect valuable data from the plastics perspective throughout the molding operation, which guides our process development. In essence, our scientific methodology uses the collected data to create an optimal injection molding process. This data-driven approach culminates in a document called a Universal Process Sheet that is specific to each product. The Universal Process Sheet ensures we replicate the same parameters established during the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), allowing us to produce parts that are as identical as possible, run after run.”
Driven by a commitment to innovation, NBP consistently enhances its manufacturing processes, ensuring exceptional value and quality for clients in a competitive landscape.