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P&G could save $1B a year with new Butler County plant

October 21, 2013  |  P&G could save $1B a year with new Butler County plant
iMFLUX

Cincinnati Business Courier 

The plastics processing plant that Procter & Gamble's iMFLUX subsidiary plans to build in West Chester could save P&G $1 billion a year in packaging costs, according to Advertising Age.

And Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) could reap big profits if the injection molding technology proves to have applications outside of packaging for its own brands, such as for automotive parts and medical devices.

The plant, which has been approved for a 60 percent, eight-year tax credit by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, could manufacture molds to produce plastic that is thinner and cheaper than the current industry standard. As I reported earlier this month, iMFLUX plans to create the equivalent of 221 full-time jobs within three years at the plant in Butler County, with an annual payroll of $17.5 million.

IMFLUX Inc. was created to develop new plastics processing technology for injection molding. Founded this year, the company is headquartered at 8611 Beckett Road, at P&G’s Beckett Ridge Technical Center. The site of the plant has yet to be determined.

“Due to the competitive nature of the business, and the fact that our technology and processes are currently undergoing the patent application process, we cannot share extensive details,” spokeswoman Anna Hogan told me.

However, "P&G's patent applications say its manufacturing system can make packages with material as much as 75 percent thinner than existing ones," Advertising Age reports. "The technology also makes it easier to use recycled resins or plant-based alternatives to petrochemicals and will help P&G make packages more recyclable because it allows caps and closures to be made from the same material as the rest of the package.

"But the patent applications also outline how the iMFLUX technology can be applied to products themselves, including toothbrushes, mascara brushes and tampon applicators, allowing them to be made thinner or, in the case of brushes, in a single piece rather than by joining bristles to handles," Advertising Age reports.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2013/10/21/pg-could-save-1b-a-year-with-new.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2013-10-21