On the heels of the recent opening in February 2023 of its new 98,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant in Henderson, Nevada, ENTEK Manufacturing, Lebanon, Oregon, announced it has formed a new company business unit known as Wear Parts Division. This unit will manufacture and sell replacement wear parts (screws, barrels, etc.) for all brands of twin-screw extruders.
“This is an important step for ENTEK, and for twin-screw extruder users worldwide,” said Kim Medford, president of ENTEK Manufacturing. “ENTEK understands this market, and we plan to become the number one manufacturer and supplier of replacement wear parts in the industry.”
ENTEK named Tammy Straw as director of the new Wear Parts division. In her role, she will have profit and loss responsibility for the Division and will report to Linda Campbell, vice president of extrusion sales for ENTEK Manufacturing. A 24-year ENTEK employee, she has been the company’s marketing and business development manager since 2016, where she also led ENTEK’s inside sales team. Straw is the vice chair of the NPE Sales and Marketing Committee for the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), and serves on the PLASTICS Committee on Equipment Statistics, where she has been the Extrusion Subcommittee at-large representative since 2021. A Plastics News ‘Women Breaking the Mold’ honoree in 2018, she is a 1994 graduate of Oregon State University where she earned a dual degree in marketing and international business.
Also joining the Wear Parts Division is Kelsey Dennis, who will be responsible for Wear Parts sales. Dennis has been with ENTEK since 2010 and recently worked in customer support and inside sales.
“I’ve worked closely with Tammy for the past 24 years and can say with confidence that she is the best person to manage this new division of our company,” said Campbell. “No one has more experience with managing wear parts needs for our customers. And Kelsey being our new Wear Parts salesperson is also great news for our customers. She is passionate about providing excellent service and has been working directly with customers since she joined ENTEK.”
All in on Wear Parts Production
At a press event in February at its new facility in Henderson, Nevada, ENTEK announced that it had invested $15 million and was hiring over 100 employees to staff the new facility, which would be used for increased production of wear parts, twin-screw extruders and material handling equipment. Now that the new manufacturing facility is up and running, the company has created a new stand-alone division solely dedicated to replacement wear parts.
“We have built replacement wear parts for both ENTEK and other-than-ENTEK twin-screw extruders for many years now,” said Campbell. “But we recognized the need to devote more resources to this part of our business. ENTEK has always been a company that grows by listening to the needs of our customers. And what we learned was, the industry needs a US-based parts supplier that truly understands twin screw wear parts and offers tailored made purchasing packages.”
“We intend to support growth with our existing customers, while aggressively expanding our parts business.”
Industry Best Lead Times
Straw said that a big part of ENTEK’s value proposition to customers is the ability to provide fast delivery of wear parts. “Even though the global supply chain disruptions have eased a bit recently, it’s not unusual for companies to have to wait four to six months or more for replacement screws and barrels,” she said. “ENTEK knows as well as anyone that these are unacceptable lead times and we are committed to changing that, in a big way.”
The Henderson facility currently has two shifts fully staffed and operating, she said. “We are currently making screw inventory and are stocking many sizes for both ENTEK and other-than-ENTEK twin-screw extruders. Our lead times are four weeks if not on the shelf, and we are on our way to two-week lead times for new screw production.”
The new division actively is seeking other OEM parts business, she said. “We are offering the highest quality replacement parts in the industry, manufactured here in the US, for all OEM sizes and models,” she said. “We encourage all twin-screw extruder owners to reach out to us for their replacement wear parts needs.”
For more information, visit www.entek.com.
