Firm eyes profit in plastic welding

WORLDS COLLIDE: From left: Carl's Collision Center technician Carlos Rodriguez, owner Carl Garcia and Malcom Technologies President Jonathan Bixby demonstrate Malcom's automotive bumper-repair kit. Carl's is a partner in the venture. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
WORLDS COLLIDE: From left: Carl's Collision Center technician Carlos Rodriguez, owner Carl Garcia and Malcom Technologies President Jonathan Bixby demonstrate Malcom's automotive bumper-repair kit. Carl's is a partner in the venture. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

A newly developed tool that could revolutionize the automobile-repair industry is now being manufactured in the Ocean State.
Malcom Technologies Inc., of Tiverton, has successfully fabricated a way to weld plastic, saving money for both automobile insurers and customers.
Their new bumper-repair kit reinforces cracked plastic so that it can be reused, rather than replacing an entire bumper. The product is expected to reduce waste and improve repair-center profits.
Malcom Technologies is no stranger to the portable welding industry. A distributor of specialty hand tools, they supply hand-held equipment for plastic welding, hand-held extruders, industrial heaters and other tools for the construction industry.
The current company was born in 1989, when owner and Chairman George Bixby bought The Malcom Company from his former employer. At the time, only a small portion of its work was as a distributor for Leister Technologies, a Swedish company specializing in welding and hot-air heating tools. Recognizing the impending demand for hot-air guns and plastic-welding needs, the company evolved into a full-line distributor for Leister products. Working out of their house, George and son, Jonathan, now the company president, eventually distributed and serviced heat guns and portable welders around the country.
In 1998, the company began production of one of its inventions, a battery-powered heat gun that could be used on-site by the military to repair equipment damaged in battle. Now, about half of their business originates from the U.S. Department of Defense.
The new automotive bumper-repair kit features a 1,200-watt gun that provides heat up to 1,150 degrees. It also uses an air flow of 17.5 cubic feet per minute, a wide slot nozzle and a proprietary mesh-and-metal roller. It is designed to be sold to auto-body repair shops.
Carl Garcia, owner of Carl’s Collision Center, in Fall River, is a business partner in the new bumper-repair kit.
“Over the last several years a lot of body shops have gotten away from plastic repairs,” Garcia said. Bumper repairs have become burdensome, with many shops dissatisfied with the chemical reactions and adhesives used in the process. Most shops began replacing the entire bumper and passing the cost on to the consumer rather than consume valuable man-hours for a repair that was problematic at best. “When you open the hood of your car and look inside, there’s a tremendous amount of plastics in there and most people don’t realize it,” Bixby said.
“Newer cars are being built with more and more plastics because they’re trying to get the vehicles lighter to save on gas mileage,” Garcia explained. “I’ve heard automobile manufacturers talk at industry conferences and they’re saying that trend will only continue. As the industry changes and some of the new vehicles come out, we’re going to see more fenders made out of plastic.”
Manufacturers use a variety of chemical blends to make plastic components, and most are either polyethylene or polypropylene-based. Fortunately, the bumper-repair kit is appropriate for either plastic. Unlike using adhesives, the new process employs a “Heat ‘N Roll” technique that preheats the bumper, then rolls on a structural mesh that encapsulates and reinforces the bumper. A repair shop can also fabricate tabs onto the edge of a plastic part to act as fasteners that can be bolted to the frame. A two-part epoxy filler is used to reinforce cracks and finish surfaces before the final paint application.
The proprietary Heat ’N Roll technique was developed by Garcia and Collision Quest. The bond created by the repair is similar to a weld and adds strength to the plastic structure. It is stronger and more durable than an adhesive bond.
“I’ve put on demonstrations for some of the top vendors and major insurance companies in the country and they’ve all left amazed,” Garcia said.
Malcom’s automotive bumper-repair kit complete with Heat ‘N Roll instructions is priced from $395. They also offer plastic-welding training courses that lead to a certification in plastic welding. Courses are run in Tiverton.
Malcom is a Leister Technologies-authorized master distributor and service center for the full line of Leister hot-air blowers, hot-air tools, heat sources, blowers and heating elements. The company has offices in Tiverton and Andover, Mass. and services the entire Northeast. •

COMPANY PROFILE
MALCOM TECHNOLOGIES INC
OWNERS: George Bixby, chairman; Jonathan Bixby, president
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Hot-air process heating systems for the manufacturing, plastic welding and military industries
LOCATION: 590 Fish Road, Tiverton
EMPLOYEES: 8
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1998
ANNUAL SALES: $2.5 million

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