Universal Plastics grows in Holyoke

By Jim Kinney

07/14/2008- The Republican

HOLYOKE - Walking through the labyrinthine aisles at Universal Plastics, it is easy to see why the company needed a 30,000-square-foot addition, which was completed last month.

Several molds of a plastic, table-top miniature golf game lay stacked in the corner of one room.

Another room in the factory on Whiting Farms Road contained the large shells used to make specialty bathtubs for women giving birth. 
 
There were covers for water purification systems, stationary swimming devices, covers for radon detectors, and several large pieces of plastic pieced together to protect jet engine parts when they are shipped around the world by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Corp. of East Hartford.

There were also several photographs of one of the company's most recognizable products - its durable, plastic signs used throughout New York City for bus routes and directions.

"Everything is custom-made," said company president Joseph L. Peters.

Thanks to the additional space, he said the company no longer has to shuttle back and forth between its factory and storage space several miles away in the downtown Open Square.

"That was pretty much the main thrust behind the whole thing," Peters said, referring to the addition. "We're more efficient."

The addition did not result in new jobs at the company, which employs 75 people. But Peters estimated that having the entire business under one roof will save the company between 15 and 20 percent on operating costs.

Started in 1965 by Peters's father, James, the company was originally located at the Cabotville Industrial Park in Chicopee. Five years ago, the company moved from the 85,000-square-foot facility there to its current plant, which was originally 75,000 square feet.
"Immediately, as we were growing, we started renting storage space on Dwight Street," Peters said, referring to the storage space used at Open Square.

Rather than building a large, low-ceilinged warehouse, the company took the advice of Maybury Material Handling of East Longmeadow, and decided to maximize its space and build a tall, open addition.

"The concept was to go up instead of big," Peters said.

The concept is perfectly clear the instant one enters the new addition. Row after row of 40-foot shelves are filled with the various products manufactured by Universal Plastics.

And by storing many of the company's products in the addition built by Associated Builders of South Hadley, Universal Plastics freed 15,000 square feet in the existing factory to make more of its products.

"Things are just more accessible," Peters noted. "It's the biggest improvement we've been able to make."

But that is not the only way the company has striven to cut costs. Several years ago, many of the employees leapt at the chance to work four 10-hour days each week instead of the standard five-day, eight-hour work week.

"It saved a lot on electricity, setups," Peters said.

The amount of time people wanted to take off from work also went down, he said.

All of which means that Peters's workers have more time to make custom-made products such as medical laser covers, kayaks, riot shields, and those small trays on store counters where you can take or leave a penny.