American Rubber Products Changes Production Gears

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). American Rubber Products Corporation (La Porte, Indiana) will be closing its 16,000 square foot Extruded Products Division in Niles, Illinois, and move its two extrusion lines to the home plant in La Porte, in an effort to keep pace with the technology. The company has about 300,000 square feet in a three-plant complex in La Porte, which houses a Mixing and Stock Preparation plant, an Extruded Products plant, and a soon-to-be-scrapped Molded Sponge Rubber plant.

The foam gaskets and seals the company had made since 1933 have been largely replaced by the newer and cheaper-to-produce thermoplastic seals and gaskets in the automotive industry. American Rubber supplies thermoplastic seals used in air conditioning and heating units, doors, windows, and other areas of new cars and trucks.

The company will spend approximately $600,000 to move the lines from Niles and set them up in a 30,000 square foot area of the La Porte plant that will be vacated by the sponge rubber operations. The move will occasion hiring 29 new employees, bringing total employment to about 180 at the plant, but there will be about 15 employees who will lose their jobs in Niles. The Indiana Economic Development Council provided the company $275,000 in tax credits and up to $110,000 for the city to alleviate long-standing drainage problems in front of the plant.

Besides its tripartite plant in La Porte, American Rubber Products has a Fabricated Products Division in North Tonawanda, New York, and an Injection Molded Products Division in Morgantown, Kentucky.

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