It is well known that actions speak louder than words. Allied Plastics' co-owners Steve Wieder and Tim Neal have closely followed this adage in making their company a growing success. "We make it happen" is how Wieder describes the Twin Lakes, WI-based company's drive to satisfy its customers. This success, however, did not come overnight.

After working 17 and 14 years, respectively, for the same thermoforming company, Wieder and Neal sought broader horizons and accepted an offer to branch out. "We decided to start a brand new business and joined with the co-owners of Five Star Fabricating," said Wieder. "They said they had a plant in Twin Lakes and were thinking about getting into thermoforming themselves. We said we could bring some more stuff to the table such as contract work and so we went into a joint venture with them. They're more or less silent partners -- more like investors."

Five Star, in business for 18 years, is currently the largest manufacturer of body shells and parts for race cars such as late-model stock cars. They make such parts as polycarbonate windows, sheet metal and fiberglass. The company, located only three blocks away from Allied's plant, made the two entrepreneurs an offer they simply couldn't refuse.

"Basically, Five Star said if you move down here and work with us, we'll help you develop this business and we'll guarantee business," said Wieder. "They were our first customer and we've had a great relationship ever since."

Wieder and Neal cut the ribbon on Allied Plastics in October of 1995, taking on a workload that would drive most to exhaustion. "Tim and I started out doing everything ourselves," Wieder said. "We sold during the day and ran the machines at night." Three months after acquiring their first machine, a MAAC 60-inch by 96-inch thermoformer, Allied fitted itself with a brand new MAAC 60-inch by 72-inch three-station rotary vacuum thermoformer. Since then, several new machines have been added, including a Motionmaster 5-axis CNC router. "We're growing by leaps and bounds. We just bought our CNC numerical control router about four months ago and we'll be looking to buy another one in three to four months." To date, Allied has four MAAC thermoformers (three rotary and one single station) and the Motionmaster CNC router.

The thermoformers are equipped with MAAC System 9000 computerization. According to the company, this allows them to pre-program 10 complete forming techniques into the system and to select up to 300 individual heat settings by a 0 to99 percentage value. A Visual Escort System also monitors the open frame positions, automatically activating and de-activating the infrared eye, platen movements, lift table retrieve, air and vacuum.

Manufacturing Packaging and Race Car Parts
The bulk of Allied's fabricating focuses on reusable packaging for the automotive industry such as pallets, lids, totes and trays. These vacuum-formed parts are medium to heavy in gauge and run in sizes up to 6 feet by 10 feet by 50 inches deep.

"The proprietary pallets we make wash away those made with wood," said Wieder. "They cost four to five times more but last 30 times longer. Plus, there aren't any wood chips or nails, and if they get worn down to where they can't be used, we'll buy them back at the current regrind value. They're 100 percent recyclable." The pallets, of which there are several different sizes, are made of high-density polyethylene and are distributed to companies in the agricultural and appliance industries as well as the automotive.

An additional 12 percent of Allied's business is with Five Star, for whom they manufacture bumpers and noses for race cars and short-track trucks. About 35 molds have been made for the parts which are used for automobiles such as the Thunderbird, Monte Carlo, Lumina and Grand Prix. These parts are vacuum-formed on the MAAC thermoformers and manually cleaned, deburred and packed.

For products, Allied buys about 90 percent of its materials from Spartech Plastics with the remainder coming from Royalite Thermoplastics and Primex Plastics. The materials used include polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS, styrene, PVC, acrylic, polycarbonate and PETG.

"Each material has its different pros and cons," Wieder said. "For durability and economics and for plastic packaging like pallets and crates, we prefer polyethylene. Compared to ABS, it's almost half the cost and it's more durable. There are so many factors that go into choosing the right material for the product, such as whether it's going to be outside or if it needs to be painted."

Allied buys the majority of its high-speed steel and carbide router bits from Onsrud Cutter.

Patterns and Prototypes
Last November, 23,000 square feet were added to the plant's existing 10,000 square-foot space, and Wieder foresees the need to expand with another 10,000 square feet within the next few years. "Because of our ever-growing customer base and their demands, we find it necessary to continue expanding our plant size," he said. "We have to accommodate our increasing product supply and machinery. It is exciting to watch all the progress."

With the recent addition came offices, a lunchroom and the company's own in-house pattern shop, where actual patterns from wood are made into prototypes. "The pattern shop helps things run more smoothly," said Wieder. "We don't have to worry about communication and it's educational for Tim and me. With the shop, we can say 'Let's try this or let's try that' and we can improve our designs. In the past, we would say 'We should have done this or done that.'"

Another feature of the plant is its computer software which can be used either online or offline. Allied's CAD designers utilize AutoCAM 14 and SurfCAM when programming the company's machines and also use the FaroArm, which digitizes finished parts, writes codes to the CNC machinery, translates it to the computer and coordinates the measuring for machining parts. "The computer software used is very vital to the machining process, especially when we do CNC trimming on parts," said Wieder. "It speeds up the operation. We could hand-teach it, but it wouldn't be as accurate as it is with software."

Customer Service Comes First
Allied says it will take whatever steps deemed necessary to come through for the customer. Whether it be gluing and assembling, decorating, bagging, boxing or hot stamping, the staff lets their actions do the talking.

"Sometimes it is our responsibility to assemble, label and package a product for the consumer to purchase," said Wieder. "The customer never sees the product; they rely on us to take care of everything from here. We take the pressure off our customer by providing a dependable service."

It is this attitude that has fueled the growth of Allied Plastics. The company has grown from employing just one part-time person back in 1995, to a full-time staff of 33. Allied has also doubled its sales from last year and expects another profitable year in 1998.

"We're definitely growing," Wieder said. "We forecast $5 million in sales this year, with an increase of 30 to 35 percent every year hereafter." Sales numbers, along with plans for future additions to the plant size and machining, have certainly motivated Allied. "You see it and everybody you talk to says the plastics industry is growing so fast, so we're pushing."

Wieder and Neal said they are not getting ahead of themselves or setting expectations too high to reach. Both have been in the business for quite some time and know what it takes to make and maintain a winning team. "Tim and I have over 30 years of combined experience in thermoforming and we've gone through every step until we worked up to the position of salesmen," said Wieder. "I think that starting from the ground floor up in this industry has been an asset to building our own business."

Proof of this is in Allied's customer list, which grows by about five a month, according to Wieder. "We follow through with our customers," he said. "When we say we'll do it, we do it. We do what we say. We give them a lead time and we hold that lead time. One of the main requirements of good customer relations is integrity. We are open and honest with our customers and they, in turn, respect us and our work. We have a good team at Allied Plastics with everyone working towards the same goal. It is a team effort that establishes our key to success -- we all work together to make it happen."

Plastics Machining & Fabricating
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