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An Article about MIRWEC Film, Inc. in "Business Network" (Bloomington Chamber of Commerce)

Still Made in the U.S.A.
Despite challenges, business is booming for these local manufacturers.

By T. Wayne Waters

The manufacturing business sector in the U.S. has seen tremendous changes in recent decades. Globalization, technological development and ownership changes have transformed manufacturing, perhaps more drastically than other business sectors, and the changes have often meant the closing of manufacturing plants.

But the ownership and management of two local companies – MIRWEC Film Inc. and MSP Aviation Inc. – serve as examples of the adaptability to changing circumstances that has helped maintain the manufacturing sector in Bloomington.

MIRWEC Film: Adapted to Market Vagaries and Ownership Changes
MIRWEC Film Inc. manufactures polypropylene film, used primarily in high voltage power capacitors. The film is manufactured in a high cleanliness production area that features a computer-controlled air handling system to eliminate contamination of this sensitive product. The company has also diversified to make a similar product, called wrapping tape, which is used to add temporary structural integrity during the manufacturing process of products such as fishing poles and golf clubs.
MIRWEC Film is currently enjoying a major expansion and rejuvenation. The company nearly doubled the size of its plant in 2004, adding 12,788 square feet to the existing 13,159, following the acquisition a couple of years earlier by the Yasui Seiki Co., Ltd. of Japan. MIRWEC added a precision coating division recently with the new ownership.

“Before the addition, all we did was make film here,” said Peter Thiel, MIRWEC plant manager. “The expansion was to expand the building so that we would have another tower, as we call it, for a second film machine. The other half (of the expansion) was to have a coating division here.”

Not bad for a company that lost 90 percent of its business in the early-1990s and was on the verge of being closed down just a few years ago. The changes make for a convoluted but ultimately positive tale of corporate flexibility and doggedness, along with a healthy dose of entrepreneurial spirit.

MIRWEC Film was incorporated in 1988 as a joint venture between Mitsubishi Rayon Company (MRC) and Westinghouse to provide the latter’s capacitor division while bypassing yen/dollar exchange rate problems and extended delivery periods. Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. (ABB) acquired MIRWEC Film the next year when it bought certain Westinghouse facilities. MRC then acquired the interest held by ABB in 1992.
But with ABB gone, so was 90 percent of MIRWEC’s business. The company had to find new customers or new products or both. MRC had already begun closing out its wrapping tape operation in Japan and moving it to Bloomington, so one new product line was opening up, but one that constitutes less than 10 percent of total business.
As for new customers, MIRWEC had by 1995 become the primary supplier of capacitor film for South Carolina-based Cooper Power, previously a competitor. Nevertheless, MRC decided MIRWEC no longer fit its core business and was looking to sell the company.
“MRC was very close to closing the place,” said Thiel. “If they didn’t find a purchaser in that 2001-2002 time frame, I don’t think it would have been very much longer before they would have closed it.”
Meanwhile, Yoshinari Yasui, principal in Yasui Seiki Co., a major precision coating development plant in Japan, was also operating a small facility in Bloomington.
“The plant that Mr. Yasui has in Japan, with the coating business, is quite similar to this business,” said Thiel. “So he just thought that was a natural expansion of his product lines. He’s very entrepreneurial.”
In 2002, Yasui Seiki Co., Ltd. acquired the majority interest of MIRWEC Film from MRC. All of the equipment from the company’s Industrial Drive location was moved to the newly expanded S. Liberty Drive MIRWEC plant last year.
MIRWEC’s Coating Division uses the Japanese company’s precision coating machines to produce and apply coatings on all sorts of things, from cell phones to computers to batteries. They also sell the $1 million-plus machines to large companies.
Another facet of the Coating Division is new product development and test sample preparation. Clients from around the country use the lab to test the performance of specific coatings they themselves develop or use.
MIRWEC has 22 employees and plans to add around a dozen within the next couple of years.
“Now that Mr. Yasui has purchased the plant, the expectation is very high that we’re going to be very successful, mainly because of his entrepreneurial spirit,” said Thiel. “He’s willing to spend money when it’s needed. He’s a very good engineer and a very good business manager.”

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New BOPLON® Product Line

We have expanded our BOPLON® Product Line. Please look at our presentation.

CMM Trade Show in McCormick Place Chicago, IL April 18-21, 2005

MIRWEC Film, Inc., in conjunction with Yasui Seiki Co., will exhibit at the CMM 2005 - booth #3672. Please see below and pre-register to receive a free VIP pass. We also exhibit two of our tabletop Mini-Labo™ units.

CMM International 2005 VIP PASS This FREE VIP Pass is provided to you compliments of Yasui Seiki/MIRWEC Film In just one trip and in a few short days, you will see the widest range of new products and technologies representing the entire converting & package printing industry. Gain Access To The Latest Products And Technologies Discover Innovative Solutions From The World's Leading Suppliers Form New Alliances With Your Global Peers Be The First To Learn About Groundbreaking Industry Developments Help Your Team Make The Best Buying Decisions It's Your Very Best ROI Register here

Coating Services - September, 2004

We have started to provide coating services since September, 2004. We have installed two Yasui Seiki coating machines. The coating machines are dedicated to toll manufacturing and laboratory test coating.

If you have a question, please contact us at 812-331-0700. (MIRWEC Film Coating Division)

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P.O. Box 2263, 601 S. Liberty Dr, Bloomington, IN 47402 All rights reserved.