LS Mtron opens Texas technology center with eye on US production

LS Mtron invested more than $20 million in a new facility in Palestine, Texas, to demonstrate and stock its injection molding machines, build LS tractors and improve logistics for the South Korean firm.

The Palestine site was renovated and has room for expansion and future potential U.S. production of LS Mtron machines, part of the company's strategic plan.

By NPE2027 it hopes to announce plans for a new factory in the U.S.

Sales of the company's presses are up despite economic challenges.

LS Mtron's market share has grown from 1.5 percent in 2018 to 7.1 percent in 2023, a company official said. Its goal is to reach 20 percent, LS Mtron's global CEO Chai Ho Shin said during an NPE2024 news conference.

"I believe without investment we can't expect returns and I strongly believe in the U.S. market," Shin said. "Last year I met customers and got the confidence we can bring customer value to the market in terms of quality, price, service and delivery time — the whole package. We'd like you to know LS Mtron has unwavering commitment to the North American market and through the investment in the NPE booth is a start. Our target is to have 20 percent market and we see no reason we can't meet it."

As part of another investment, LS Mtron opened a 210,000-square-foor facility to produce LS Tractors and house the LS Injection Molding Machine's (LS IMM) division's third U.S. technical center. The other two are in Wood Dale, Ill., and Duluth, Ga., near Atlanta.

The machine builder is part of the LS Cos. with LS Electric and LS Cable & System that sold $30 billion of products in 2023.

LS Cos. were established in 2003 as part of the LG Group, which includes LG Electronics and saw sales of $122.5 billion.

LG bought 1,390 LS machines from 2014-2023 for appliance, electronics, chemical and automotive applications, prompting the slogan "Molding machines for molders by molders."

On the plastics machinery side, the new facility will host live demonstrations, in-person training and mold trials for customers. The first LS Mtron presses have already arrived via the Port of Houston.

LS Mtron also builds more than 12,000 tractors a year at its Battleboro, N.C., factory. The new Texas facility is expected to double U.S. production with another 12,000 tractors.

Texas is a strategic location for both LS Tractors and LS injection molding machines, according to Peter Gardner, president of LS Mtron Injection Molding Machines USA.

"Logistics warehousing and machine demonstrations for our IMMs in Texas is an important step for LS Mtron's growth plans," Gardner said. "In South Korea, LS Tractor production and LS injection molding production are co-located in the same factory campus — so it is a proven model for leveraging LS Mtron's diverse manufacturing and financial strength to provide cost-effective solutions to our end users."

There are about 50,000 small- to medium-range farm tractors purchased in Texas each year, according to John Grooms, U.S. vice president of sales for LS Tractor.

The new facility offers many benefits for the plastics side, too, Gardner said, noting it sits on a 10.6-acre parcel that is within 175 miles of Dallas and Houston.

"Shipping into the Port of Houston is cost effective, and Palestine, Texas, is a great location for shipping machines to our customers in Texas and Mexico," Gardner said. "In fact, one of our largest customers, US Merchants, is in Houston. We have many others, such as NICOR Inc., MVP Plastics and more in Texas as well as a large customer in base in Mexico, with over 1,000 machines installed."

Extensive renovations have been completed at the new site.

"North America is a very important market for LS, not only for our very successful tractor business, but for our growing molding machinery business as well," LS Mtron's global CEO Chai Ho Shin said in a news release.

LS Mtron also invested $12 million to build a 15,000-square-meter facilty in Jinju, South Korea, to expand machine production. The facility began operations last month. Machines produced there will be shipped to the U.S., Europe and Korea.

"We are establishing the facility as a central logistics hub, taking advantage of its proximity to the port and connecting it to our Jeonju plant to streamline operations," Ho Shin said.

The facility will be able to stock machines there that are ready for shipment out of the Busan port to the U.S.

Potentially, direct delivery to the customer saves the added costs of shipping to both the U.S. warehouse and then on to the customer, which is significant for large-tonnage machines.

LS Mtron already has more than 2,000 machines installed in North America, primarily for automotive production, as well as appliances, electronics and logistics packaging.

The molding machine division, referred to as LS IMM, was started in 1969 by the South Korean tech giant LG Corp., one of the world's largest plastic molders. At first, LS IMM met the parent company's production needs for injection molded components for their TVs, appliances, electronics, and other products.

Now LS IMM builds about 3,000 machines annually for the network of LS-related and LG-founded companies as well as thousands of plastics processors globally.

The vertically integrated company has not only dodged supply-chain woes but can supply a new custom press to North American processors in 100 days from casting to cargo — or faster if it's in stock.

* source : https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/ls-mtron-technology-center-opens-texas-eye-us-production