The founder of an Alabama precision medical machining company has purchased Tropic Tool & Mold Inc., an Albertville, Ala., injection mold shop that serves the medical, electronics and automotive industries.
Kenny Cleveland bought the 13-employee Tropic Tool & Mold earlier this year, through his holding company, 222 Holdings LLC. Terms were not disclosed.
Robert Knoth founded Tropic Tool in 1985 in Pinellas Park, Fla., and relocated the company to Alabama in 1988. After his death in early 2018, his daughter, Kimberly Knoth, became owner and president.
After careful consideration for the reputation of Tropic Tool and the welfare of its employees, she decided to sell the company to a buyer who could lead the mold maker to the next level.
Cleveland has nearly 40 years of experience in precision machining. He founded an Alabama company that machined surgical instruments for orthopedic and medical devices, selling it in 2004.
Tropic Tool recently has invested in an Okuma five-axis machining center and a Tsugami CNC lathe. The company also has moved to a ShopTech E2 MFG ERP system (enterprise resource planning), as officials plan to seek ISO 9001 certification.
“We will continue to build on the reputation of quality tooling at competitive pricing with unmatched customer service that has come to be associated with Tropic Tool & Mold,” said Cleveland, who is president of the company. “We will also be driven to expand our capabilities in other facets of the precision molding industry.”
This post appeared first on Plastics News.