By Lindsey Munson, editor, Plastics Business
Celebrating a 50-year milestone in April 2024, Four Process Ltd., now located in Valley Park, Missouri, has built its business foundation on three key characteristics: it is veteran-founded, woman-owned and a third-generation family endeavor. As a custom precision plastics injection molder, Four Process recently expanded into a new facility, leveraging its strengths, mission and available resources. Through this buildup, it now offers injection molding, assembly, custom inventory management and larger production capabilities.
Rich in History (and Square Footage)
First opening its doors on April 20, 1974, Four Process has lived by its four pillars (“4Ps”), including communication, honesty, value and reliability. Hubert Fox, a US Army Veteran, founded the company as a cast-to-size tooling foundry and machine shop that helped develop mold technologies for the shoe, medical device and electronics industries. For 41 years, the company’s operations held strong in a 7,700 sq. ft. facility in Fenton, Missouri.
Then in 2022, Four Process built upon Fox’s legacy and moved into a 23,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Valley Park, Missouri. The family-owned company renovated the facility to accommodate growth, expanding its molding, assembly and robotics automation capabilities and operations to include 85- to 500-ton presses, a modular clean room, central material handling and additional space that allowed for adding cells and presses based on customer demand.
Today, Four Process is owned by Fox’s widow, Ursula, and employs family members, including his daughter, Barbara, his grandson, Nick, and his grandson-in-law, Brett Richardet. When presented with the opportunity to share its story, Richardet, chief operating officer, stepped up to the occasion, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the planning and strategizing that launched the company’s new era of growth with its facility expansion.
Growth and Strong Positioning
The facility expansion decisions were driven by operational, strategic and financial factors – aligning with Four Process’s short- and long-term growth plans, market and customer demands. These include increasing production, technology and innovation, among others. Richardet said, “Creating growth and opportunity for the Four Process team members and business partners were key focuses. We were in a strong position with a few legacy customers, as well as some very exciting new opportunities that were coming to fruition.”
Recently, Four Process achieved its ISO9001 Quality certification. The company recognized that, given its strength and significant workload in assembly, focusing on injection capabilities would be beneficial in the long run. “We have a great team and a lot to offer the plastics industry,” said Richardet, “so it was critical we put ourselves in a position where current and future customers could see themselves growing with us. We set a goal of achieving a larger tonnage production than we currently have, and we wanted the ability to lean into automation and robotics. Our old facility was tight on space and had low ceilings – we were busting at the seams. The new facility has tripled our footprint, featuring high ceilings and plenty of room for expansion. All of our support equipment needed updating, and it was impossible to make it make sense to invest further in the old facility. We wanted to do it once and do it right, so we got serious about it… and executed.”
Factors and Objectives
As a custom injection molder, Four Process is not bound to a single market but rather diversifies within many markets, serving customers with varying product demands. Richardet shared that it is key for the company to position itself with a flexible strategy that allows for new customer opportunities to unfold without a complete revamp or disruption to current operations.
The goal was for Four Process to get into medical applications, in addition to its current market lineup. It was essential to set up the facility with the ability to quickly pivot and add new equipment to meet increased demand or additional secondary operations – all without disrupting current programs. With that, the solution was to install a central material-handling system, as well as a chilled and insulated water system, establishing a closed loop for those operations.
Also factored into the expansion was the company’s existing workforce and customer base, with a primary goal of eliminating any added burden internally and externally. The scope was to remove as many processing and production variables as possible, making sure that the Four Process leadership and management team worked and communicated cross-functionally throughout the life of the expansion. Richardet said, “With those advanced efforts, we kept the facility in close proximity to our workforce and customers, had open-door communication and built a climate-controlled production area.”
The Process
Straight out of the gate, Four Process took the critical step in evaluating customer pricing and operational costs (i.e., equipment costs, lead times, floor footprints for equipment, etc.) to confirm that those numbers would be in line with the expansion plan while continuing to monitor those key factors over a few years. Then, COVID-19 hit. Richardet said, “That was the ultimate stress test! We survived and kept the team intact, and after about a year of buckling down, it was decided that our word for this expansion was ‘commit.’”
Following, Four Process revisited its original expansion plan and began, once again, to search for the “right property” that checked most of its boxes. “We project managed the entire process along with support from our vendors and close connections in the plastics industry. It encompassed layers of strategic planning and goal setting, including purchasing the building and equipment, managing lead times and locking in the trades needed for the new build-out, as well as the requirements expected (i.e., equipment to be installed). Additionally, we had to understand the timelines for doing the work and put the project schedule together. One key element of the timeline was the purchase of equipment in advance of locating and purchasing a new building, due to the long lead times. That’s how ‘committed’ we were to this expansion,” said Richardet.
Four Process purchased a facility that previously was utilized for injection molding – a huge bonus for the company. However, that molding a business was operating out of it at the time the deal was made. So Four Process stepped up and helped to manage the company’s departure on top of its expansion timeline and responsibility load. Richardet shared, “We did a complete gut job and new build out of both the office area and production floor. In advance, we discussed the facility move with our customers and ensured that production of their products would start about a year prior to the move. We owned the old building, so there wasn’t a timeline, but even so, we created one and then stuck to it.”
Technology and Innovative Influences
In its current facility, Four Process already had begun upgrading its injection machines to all-electric presses and was committed to continuing down this path through the expansion. Technology played a significant role in the overall plan and design of the new facility, as Four Process needed to build for the future, from the front office to the facility floor. Four Process incorporated the following technology and innovative features into its expansion:
- A 500-ton press (with the ability to go larger), upping its tonnage from 300 tons.
- Installation of a central material-handling system and central chilled water system with insulated lines.
- Installation of an HVAC system for the production area.
- Installation of an overhead crane system, allowing the presses to be closer together, optimizing the production space.
- Valved-off areas to quickly add more presses without disrupting current production, so the company could expand and lean into new opportunities.
- Ground and polished the floors to maintain a clean and comfortable work area.
- Ran Cat 6 cables throughout the plant to integrate IoT and automation with data collection on the floor.
Growing as a Team
“We really do have a great team with a strong culture. Some of our team members have been with us for 29 years, but equally so, we have a talented young group that has tenure of two to five years and is going strong,” said Richardet. The entire Four Process workforce has been a part of the expansion from start to finish – and from that, a culture of creating value, respect and trust has been built. This facility expansion isn’t just about business growth but also team growth.
Richardet said, “With employees involved from the beginning, it gives them a sense of ownership and shows them that we are dedicated to the ongoing growth of the company and our team. By working cross-functionally, we created a space for employees that is safe, comfortable and positive in their daily work environment. We focused on a climate-controlled environment that encompasses bright lighting, is spacious and well-maintained.
The whole Four Process team rose to the occasion. It was difficult, for sure, but more so exciting and beyond rewarding.”
More information: www.fourprocessltd.com