EnviroTech Molded Products is a world-class injection molding firm that makes the largest injected polymer products available in today’s markets. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, EnviroTech’s capabilities include design optimization for moldability, mold design engineering, custom bulk and standard injection molding, manufacturing, CNC machining, finishing, assembly, custom testing, and other value added services to meet its customers’ needs.
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“We specialize in large industrial component manufacturing. We have a proprietary bulk molding technology that allows us to mold single shot sizes up to 530 pounds and custom-built presses up to 2,500 tons,” states Business Development Manager, Brett Levy.
EnviroTech maintains its own molding and machine shop stocked with “full CNC (Computer Numerical Control) capabilities, large gantry mills, high-speed mills,” and other equipment, he continues.
The company uses CNC machines made by OEMs such as Haas and Mori Seiki and CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) software programs.
EnviroTech can injection mold virtually any existing thermoplastic polymer resin and/or resin composition to make replacements for metal components. Materials utilized for these purposes include engineered specialty resins, such as Flouropolymers, Polyether Ether Ketone (PEEK), filled and unfilled Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS), as well as more standard resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, nylons, polycarbonate, and polyvinyl chloride, among others. The firm has clients in the defense, oil and gas, medical, wastewater management, mining, manufacturing, filtration, industrial and food processing sectors, to name a few, and its customers have included Boeing, Ingersoll Rand, and Dover Corporation.
EnviroTech’s products cover a wide range of applications and industries. The firm can make everything from handgun grips, jet canopies and biohazard disposal cases for the defense sector to plasma filtration plates, medical equipment housing and kidney dialysis filtration plates for medical clients. Products for the oil and gas sector include deep sea riser clamps, BOP seals, cable protection, pipe end protection and tether clamps. EnviroTech is the top global supplier of custom injection molded filter plates, chamber plates and assorted components for the solid-liquid filtration sector.
The company works closely with local design firms on different projects involving conceptual design, patent design and prototyping work. That said, “Our expertise is taking a design that the customer came with or we helped bring along through the process, then optimizing the part for [moldability and manufacturability] and overseeing the design of the mold tooling… and providing support for all the development required. Bringing the product from design to production,” states Levy.
He adds, “We manufacture pump components for pretty much every international pump manufacturer, doing everything from half-inch up to three inch pump programs out of filled and unfilled polypropylene and Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF), industrial Polyethylene eight-inch to 12-inch valves for the gas and water industry… We also manufacture large industrial electrochemical components, which is a big focus of ours right now. Our large-scale molding and machining centers make us a great candidate to help usher in lower cost industrial electrochemical solutions for a broad range of different applications.”
EnviroTech was founded in 1963 in Salt Lake City as a plastics sub-division of process equipment supplier EIMCO. The first project involved developing a new continuous vacuum drum filter out of plastic (Polypropylene) rather than traditional materials such as metal or wood.
Initially, the firm focused on making drum filters for the filtration and underground mining sectors. Over the years, the range of the company’s services and products expanded – EnviroTech started doing custom injection molding, creating products for military rockets and kidney dialysis machines, among other things. The company acquired the legal name EnviroTech Molded Products (the company uses the name EnviroTech Custom Injection Molders for marketing purposes) and was eventually purchased by the Klinkau Corporate Group, based out of Marktoberdorf, Germany.
“Their specialty is filter plates. They acquired EnviroTech to have the most complete line worldwide of injection molded and compression molded filter plate solutions as well as diversifying their portfolio,” says Levy, of the Klinkau Corporate Group. “EnviroTech Molded Products’ entire team is based in Salt Lake City… We run as our own team. We’ve got our president here. The whole upper management is here,” he adds.
At present, EnviroTech has 125 employees, up from roughly 110 last year at this time.
The skill sets, and backgrounds required of new hires “depends on the area that’s hiring. We have mold technicians and machinists. We’ve been hiring a couple engineering team members to help the front end, but we’re also looking for employees with skills on the floor,” states Levy. Regardless of the position involved, “We’re really looking for somebody who fits the culture of what we’re trying to achieve,” he adds.
This culture centers on “making a difference in the industrial manufacturing space and providing a solution that others in the industry don’t possess and are not necessarily educated on [regarding] possibilities for metal replacement. And helping usher in a new generation of industrial manufacturing,” Levy continues.
EnviroTech is ISO 9001:2015 certified and supremely focused on quality and safety. “We’ve got a full quality lab and a quality manager. We pride ourselves in having robust quality plans. We’ll set up custom work flows to have the most efficient manufacturing of whatever the product is,” states Levy. This quality laboratory contains two Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs) and other equipment to ensure products and materials meet expected parameters.
EnviroTech also has a Quality Assurance team and performs Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) “on a project by project basis, to analyze potential risks and identify points of concern… Depending on certain incidents, we do a fishbone analysis,” states Levy.
FMEA is a highly-structured form of failure analysis (determining the underlying cause of a failure in a manufacturing or industrial process). A FMEA investigation involves scrutiny of parts, processes, assemblies, sub-assemblies, and more. Fishbone analysis has its origins in Japanese manufacturing methodology and is a visualization tool designed to pinpoint the specific causes behind a given problem.
When it comes to safety, EnviroTech is one of only 16 companies in the state of Utah with a SHARP (Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program) certificate. SHARP certificates are only given to firms that meet stringent OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards. EnviroTech has a safety committee that meets regularly and prides itself on the motto, “the safest place to be,” says Levy, adding, “We take care of our staff.”
EnviroTech likes to maintain long-term relationships with customers, employees and suppliers. Some clients and staff have been “with us 30 to 40 years. We pride ourselves on the quality of relationships we’ve built over time,” states Levy. In a similar fashion, “we have a handful of trusted vendors” that the firm has worked with for some time, he continues. “We work very closely with technical teams on some of the top resin manufacturers.”
The firm follows a continuous improvement philosophy, meaning staff are encouraged to constantly look for ways to boost quality and efficiency while cutting waste and saving money and time. “We recycle and reuse 99 percent of our scrap waste and material. We’re always looking at how we can optimize our processes – finding the right resin for the right solution,” says Levy.
In terms of promotion, EnviroTech has a comprehensive website and “a full digital marketing presence on social media. We have social media educational campaigns geared more toward educating the engineers and decision-makers out there [as to] what the possibilities are,” he notes.
For all these online efforts, EnviroTech also relies on the human touch for promotional purposes. “I attend trade shows specific to our goals of the year. We’ve had so much activity and growth going on, I’ve scaled back on the trade shows I’ve attended this year,” states Levy, adding that he’s “always networking and educating people about what EnviroTech can do.”
To maintain the company’s forward momentum, EnviroTech is very open to innovation, new technology and equipment, and new assignments. About the latter: “We’re always working on new projects. Some of these life cycles take a while to work through,” says Levy.
One intriguing assignment EnviroTech is currently part of involves the development of “a smart control grip” for military firearms, he shares. Another ongoing project centers on “high density polyethylene domes that are used in compressed natural gas transport systems.”
Not a firm to stand still, EnviroTech is looking to grow – literally – in terms of workspace and personnel. “We’re looking at how to add space and capacity and continue to grow with our customers while bringing in new programs. We’re looking at adding new building space right now. We’ve got new equipment on order. We’re currently building a new bulk molding station,” says Levy.
Adding space means adding workers: “We want to find people that want to be part of this industrial revolution,” he comments.
Levy predicts a bright future built on solid growth. “In the next five years, I believe we’ve going to need to add another facility that will house our standard injection lines and convert our current 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility just to the bulk and filter plate business. The company’s objective right now is 15 percent year over year sustainable growth for next three years; we’re on pace for that this year. We’re looking at how to continue to diversify our industries and take the company to the next level in the next five years,” he says.
