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Jim Wirtz Named President at REP Corporation

Promises “evolution not revolution” at market leader in rubber molding presses

Jim Wirtz President REP Corporation

Jim Wirtz
President
REP Corporation

Kodak, Tennessee-Effective immediately, James P. Wirtz II has been named President of REP Corporation, the longtime leader in rubber molding presses and related equipment for the North American market. REP Corporation is a subsidiary of REP International, based in Lyon, France.

Jim Wirtz came to REP in 2014, when he was named Service Manager for the company. His appointment follows the recent announcement by previous president Tim Graham, wherein Graham decided to take a reduced role at the company.

Jim observes, “REP is committed to making this change as more of an evolution not a revolution, at the company. The old maxim in business says if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. While we will continue to develop new molding machines for the rubber and TPE business in North America, plus enhance our offering with recently introduced devulcanization equipment as well as REP Pack 4.0 production management software modules, I can assure our many customers and associates in the industry that some things will never change. Those include our commitment to advancing molding technology, providing the best overall solutions to parts manufacturers and, most importantly, supporting our machines with a training and service business model, second to none in the industry. That aspect of REP will be our benchmark, going forward, as we seek to remain in our market leading position.” Since its beginning in 1970, REP Corporation has grown to be the acknowledged top supplier of molding machinery in the North American market.

Wirtz brings nearly a lifetime of experience in the rubber molding industry to his new post at REP, as his family owned and operated Wirtz Manufacturing, likewise a longtime leader in injection molding, based in Michigan, where Jim learned the business from all aspects of mold design and contract production. When the family business redirected itself into battery manufacturing in the mid-1990’s, Jim’s passion for the rubber molding industry continued, as he helped design and construct various manufacturing facilities across the United States, in the rubber industry. “My entire working life has been centered around the rubber injection and extrusion business. It is an honor to lead REP Corporation and be a part of the REP International global network, staying in the industry where my grandfather, father and I have all spent our careers. It’s where I belong,” Jim notes.

Wirtz will be responsible for the management and corporate direction of REP Corporation, a leading supplier of injection, compression and transfer molding presses, plus tire making and devulcanization equipment. He will be based at the new company headquarters, recently opened in Kodak, Tennessee, near Knoxville. Other announcements regarding this new facility will be forthcoming, according to company sources.


For more information on this announcement, please contact:

REP Corporation
310 Katom Drive
Kodak, TN 37764
Phone: 847-697-7210
www.repinjection.com
Jim Wirtz, President

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REP Featured in Industrial Careers

Derek Williams, National Sales Director at REP Corporation, was recently featured in an article on Industrial Careers. REP Corporation is the world leader in injection molding presses for rubber and TPE.

Click on image to read the article


For more information, please contact:
REP Corporation
8N740 Tameling Court
Bartlett, IL 60103-8146
Phone: 847-697-7210
www.repinjection.com
Attention:  Tim Graham or Jim Wirtz

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REP Corporation Relocating Headquarters

Company moving HQ to Kodak, Tennessee, near Knoxville; plans to retain Chicago area facility for sales and service of its molding machinery 

REP Corporation (Bartlett, Illinois), the market leader in rubber molding machinery, today announces plans to relocate their corporate headquarters to Kodak, Tennessee, near Knoxville.  The new facility is currently under construction and will be open in early 2019, according to company President Tim Graham.  From the new location, REP Corporation will conduct sales, service, engineering and machine demonstrations, plus parts warehousing, for customers in North America. REP Corporation is a subsidiary of the REP International, based in Lyon, France.

REP Corporation management shown with Mayor Larry Waters of Sevier County, Tennessee, upon completion of the agreement to relocate the corporate headquarters. Shown left to right: Brian Boyle, Regional Sales Manager Jeff Tanner, Regional Sales Manager Josh Beachum, Technical Director James Wirtz II, Aftersales Director Larry Waters, Mayor Sevier County Timothy Graham, President REP Corporation Derek Williams, National Sales Director Anna Seel, Accounting Director

 

Plans include the employment of approximately 20 people for administration, engineering, sales and field service.  REP Corporation currently maintains an install base of more than 3000 machines and has been selling in the North American market since 1970.

The current facility in Bartlett, Illinois near Chicago, will be maintained as a sales and service office for the company.

Aftersales Director Jim Wirtz explains, “We began our search about two years ago, recognizing the migration of the rubber industry to the South, as it follows the primary automotive OEM.  We were impressed by the efforts of Sevier County in Tennessee, especially Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters plus Allen Newton and his team at the Economic Development Council.  This is a major step for REP, as we’ve occupied essentially the same location in Chicagoland since we began here in 1970.  We look forward to broadening our presence in the country and becoming part of this vibrant new industrial community in Kodak.”

Technical Director at REP, Josh Beachum, adds, “One of the strong factors in our decision was the talent pool of young engineers in this area, combined with the technical training options available to us.  The rubber molding business has a very unique set of chemistries and manufacturing technologies that require ongoing training and mastery.”

Anna Seel, the Accounting Director at REP Corporation, notes, “We will provide very competitive wages and benefit package to our new employees, most of whom will come from the local community. This second location will help us provide support to our customers more effectively.”

National Sales Director Derek Williams further states, “This move represents an opportunity to support our transplanted existing customers who have followed the auto industry to the South, plus the newly emerging markets here.”

Tim Graham, concludes, “We’ve received a very enthusiastic welcome from the local business community here, making this decision to relocate from our longtime Chicago headquarters an easier move.” He added the company plans to relocate immediately upon completion of the new facility, located in the Smith-Thomas Technology Park in Kodak.

 

REP provides the North America rubber industry with a full range of injection and compression presses, plus laser mold cleaning and other ancillary equipment, as well as REP Pack 4.0, its proprietary software suite for the management of all press parameters and machine kinematics, providing manageable data for the digital factory and Industry 4.0, the rapidly advancing standard for rubber factory operations.


For more information on this announcement, please contact:
REP Corporation
8N740 Tameling Court
Bartlett, IL 60103-8146
Phone: 847-697-7210
www.repinjection.com
Attention:  Tim Graham or Jim Wirtz

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Longtime Rep Corporation President Tim Graham Assuming New Role at Company

Graham to become Director of Special Projects, Jim Wirtz to succeed as President

REP Corporation (Bartlett, Illinois), the market leader in rubber molding machinery, today announces that Tim Graham, the company’s president since 2005 and a REP employee since 1979, will assume a new role, effective January 1st 2019.  Graham will become the Director of Special Projects and current After Sales Director for North America, Jim Wirtz, a longtime industry veteran, will assume the role of president.  Graham intends to remain with the company for the near term, before taking retirement in 2019.

Tim Graham has been a force in the North American rubber industry for many years.  After attending Hope College and the University of Michigan, where he achieved his degree in engineering.  Tim began his career in technical sales with REP in 1979, when REP Corporation was less than a decade old.  REP Corporation is the North American subsidiary of REP International, based in Lyon, France, a world leader in rubber molding and related machinery.

Working with former presidents Jim Jennett and Ron Dagar, Tim Graham helped to steadily build the REP install base of machines in the North American market, which today totals over 3000.  He comments, “I’ve seen REP develop an amazing line of machines, over the years, starting with the G3.  I was with the company when we made a major breakout on G6 injection presses, the first in the industry with microprocessor closed loop control, a huge jump in technology for the rubber industry.”  Tim also watched the development of the company’s pioneering of valve-gated cold runner molding, which made a huge impact on the material consumption of the machinery on the market.

Tim Graham (left) and new REP Corporation President Jim Wirtz

Graham become VP at REP in 2005 and, shortly afterwards, assumed the role of president, the position he’s held until today.  He notes, “I’ve been at REP through some great periods of growth and also through some intense downtimes, but we’ve had a terrific team of sales and service people here at the company, over the years.  They’re responsible for helping the company achieve the position we hold in the market today, in combination with what I believe to be the most advanced rubber molding technology in the world.”

Along the way, Tim Graham has met some incredible people in the rubber business.  “I’ve always been impressed by the quality of the people in this industry, which I think derives from their technical skills combined with the people skills that drive any successful business.  Even as the industry has transitioned to a very high technical level and gone online for so much of the communications over the years, it’s still very people-centric and the relationships I’ve had with some of the stellar members of the rubber business have been extremely rewarding, on a personal level.”

Tim Graham has taken an active role in the industry, participating for many years in local rubber group functions and as a founding member of the Association for Rubber Products Manufacturers.  Tim’s legendary talents on the golf course are often the subject of discussion, he jokes, but he’s been proud to join his colleagues over the years in both business and social activities.  He’s also attended every rubber trade show since 1979.

As only the third president of REP Corporation since its inception in 1970, Tim is very proud of the continuity of management and commitment to the industry at REP.  “I’m certainly a very different person from my predecessors, but we all still talk and share stories about the industry and our company’s leading role in it.”

On the business side, Graham cites one project in particular as a shining star moment.  “REP was challenged by a leading pharmaceutical product manufacturer to devise a highly automated work cell arrangement.  We brought a variety of our engineering and machine building skills to the task at REP and fulfilled, even exceeded, our customer’s expectations.  We all worked very hard to meet the challenge and were very pleased with the outcome, as was our customer.  I think that, no matter how long you’re on the job, those moments are still very satisfying.”

He cites the many changes in the industry over the years.  “Service has never been more important.  From the early days of just-in-time in the auto industry until today, where the market has gone global and the high degree of automation means downtime must be minimized, we are now called upon more than ever to provide immediate assistance to our customers, whether it’s application engineering, commissioning and start-up validation, after-sales parts or machine service.  Yes, we sell quality machines, but there’s so much more to the customer relationship today, especially as the older rubber guys leave and a whole new generation assumes the workload.”

Tim Graham gets philosophical, at times.  “If I had to give advice to somebody in any business, it would be, don’t rest on your laurels.  Always reach out for the next challenge and keep innovating the ways you build machines as well as the way you do business.  A lot has changed over my years in the rubber industry, but that attitude has served REP well, since we began.”  He notes that following college, he worked for his dad, also in the rubber industry, who’d given him some of that same advice.

Jim Wirtz, the new president at REP, muses, “We’re very glad Tim is sticking around for a time.  His knowledge and especially his personal relationships with our customers are invaluable assets to REP.  I look forward to working with him in the new role.”

Tim Graham is a Detroit native and grew up in Bloomfield Hills.  Today, he resides in St. Charles, Illinois with wife Mary Anne.


For more information on this announcement, please contact:
REP Corporation
8N740 Tameling Court
Bartlett, IL 60103-8146
Phone: 847-697-7210
www.repinjection.com
Attention:  Tim Graham or Jim Wirtz

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The rubber injection molding machine making REP technology accessible to all!

 

In the little world of rubber injection molding machines, the name of REP has been recognized for years as a synonym for performance and high technology. REP presses are known for being reliable, durable and adapted to the most sophisticated processes.

However the drawback of such reputation is that some customers think they cannot afford REP technology or don’t need advanced features knowing well they are unnecessary for their simple parts production.The G10 Core line was designed to target these customers’ needs.

Presented for the first time at the end of 2016, much less expensive than the G10 Extended, the G10 Core meets the needs of lean manufacturing, for uncomplicated and standard processes, while delivering the usual REP quality and reliability.

The G10 Core is available with clamping forces from 1 600 to 5 100 kN : V410 Core, V510 Core and V710 Core.

These machines feature all of the REP technology at optimized cost. The G10 Core is a G10, it has the same patented injection unit as the G10 Extended with separate injection and plasticization functions. Unlike other so-called budget machines, it is CE-certified . For customers who need simple solutions without stripping kit, process control customization or other particular features, it is the ideal solution!


For more information on this announcement, please contact:
REP Corporation
8N740 Tameling Court
Bartlett, IL 60103-8146
Phone: 847-697-7210
www.repinjection.com
tgraham@repcorp.com
Attention: Tim Graham, President.

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REP Unveils New Machines, Technology at ‘K 2016

Responding to advancements in machine design and expanded market opportunities, industry leader in rubber injection presses adds to lineup

microjectREP international is preparing for the K2016 show
The largest plastics and rubber industry companies will be present in October for the “K Show”, held once every three years in Düsseldorf. As the leading manufacturer of rubber injection molding machines, REP international will exhibit their latest products (Hall 14 Booth B57).

G10 Core and G10 Extended Infinitely Smart!
New developments are announced in the G10 range with two new product lines of rubber injection molding machines, G10 Core and G10 Extended, highly adapted to specific customer needs in the rubber market.

The G10 Core machines are presses with all core functionalities, tailored to uncomplicated processes, available on the mid-range category (160 to 500t). A V410 Core will be running at K2016.
This machine is REP expertise at an optimized cost: equipped with a REP patented injection unit, a sturdy and ergonomic closing unit and a powerful process-control, bearing CE-certification, G10 Core presses are intended for customers who want economical, practical solutions to their rubber molding challenges.

The G10 Extended machines are presses with a clamping force from 160 to 1,000 tons, best suited to heavy-duty processes. This range extends even further the performance of the previous generations: energy efficiency, enhanced productivity, improved ergonomics and maintainability, plus smart technologies! A G10 Extended, in the bi-compound version, will be shown at the REP booth with a molding demonstration of dampers that perfectly illustrates material flow control and automatic demolding capabilities on the press.

Industry 4.0
To meet evolving Industry 4.0 challenges, REP will release a new app and software package called REP Pack 4.0 including Rep Net 4.0 and Rep Net App, the 4th generation of the RepNet supervision software and its mobile app. Comprising 11 modules, REP Pack 4.0 allows for real-time monitoring and plant floor modeling, centralized management of mold settings, productivity calculations, Statistical Process Control and many other functions that will be demo’d at the booth.  

Rubber Micromachine
REP will show a micromolding machine, the rubber version of the Microject M06R. This “Plug & Produce” micromachine is designed for molding and overmolding small parts. It can be easily integrated to automated assembly lines and suits all prototyping or lab testing. Perfectly adapted to very small precision parts, or small series, a version for plastic molding (M06P) or LSR molding (M06S) is also available. It will be presented in action at the booth with a molding demonstration of valves with metal inserts.

Laser Mold Cleaning Machine
The company continues broadening its product range: always focusing on useful solutions for their customers.  REP has developed, together with a laser-specialized partner, a laser technology matched to the cleaning of industrial parts and injection and compression molds for the rubber and polymer processing markets. The machine called “REP MLC 500 by Laselec” is now on available through the global REP distribution network. It will be presented in Düsseldorf.

This environmentally-friendly ecological solution guarantees a safe, optimal, quick and reproducible cleaning with low operating costs.

TYC Compression Press
REP will also show a compression press for molding rubber or composites by Tung Yu, their long-time Asian partner. Offering vacuum compression molding, hot-cold presses, sandwich molding, presses to mold friction parts, presses in clean rooms, SMC, BMC, etc., Tung Yu has broad and diverse experience in the market, which REP can now offer for molding composite, rubber and thermoset materials.

A total of five machines will be shown at the REP booth where an international team will engage visitors from all over the world.

For more information on this announcement, please contact:
REP Corporation, 8N740 Tameling Court, Bartlett, IL 60103-8146. Phone: 847-697-7210. Fax: 847-697-6829. Web: www.repinjection.com.  Email: tgraham@repcorp.com. Attention: Tim Graham, President.

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Rep Names New National Sales Director

Responding to growth in sales and expanded market opportunities, industry leader in rubber injection presses adds to staff 

Derek Williams National Sales Director REP Corporation

Derek Williams
National Sales Director
REP Corporation

Bartlett, IL – REP Corporation announces the appointment of Derek Williams to the new position of National Sales Director, effective immediately.   This move represents a return of Mr. Williams to the REP team, where he previously served as a Regional Sales Manager.

Commenting on the appointment, REP Corporation President Tim Graham observed,

“We welcome Derek back to REP. He brings us over 20 years in the rubber industry and his market knowledge is backed by very strong technical machine and material processing know-how. His new role at REP will bring us additional strength in project management and best practices. Current and future customers will benefit from Derek’s hands-on experience plus his knowledge of our company’s leading edge press technologies.”

For more information on this announcement, please contact:
REP Corporation, 8N740 Tameling Court, Bartlett, IL 60103-8146. Phone: 847-697-7210. Fax: 847-697-6829. Web: www.repinjection.com.  Email: tgraham@repcorp.com. Attention: Tim Graham, President.

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Automatic stripping of core-molded EPDM pipe seals

Automatic stripping of core-molded EPDM pipe seals

REP offers a simple and economical solution to a problem that is familiar to manufacturers of pipe seals.

The stripping process…often the stumbling block of the moulding process
When performed manually, the stripping process is often very difficult and productivity is considerably impacted; when being performed automatically, the challenge is to do it quickly without any heat loss and without production stoppages, due to overlapping seals. The solutions generally implemented in the industry today, such as molding with two sets of rotating core bars, require a very large press opening stroke to perform the core bar rotation outside the press and/or front and rear stripping units that lead to considerable space requirements and very high capital costs.

A simple and efficient solution
REP has recently worked on several projects and today offers its customers a competitive and profitable turnkey solution for reduced size on the automatic stripping of EPDM pipe seals of any size. You can watch the stripping process on http://www.youtube.com/REPinternational.

The solution can be matched to any seal size.   It is based on conveyor belts equipped with rotating belts, allowing for the individual stripping of the seals. The spacing between the bottom and top belts can be easily adjusted, thanks to a mechanical stopper system, thus making it possible to switch over from one seal type to another. The rotation speeds of the top and bottom belts can also be adjusted independently.

The belts are designed in compliance with a multi-layer technology, in order to ensure the reliability of the stripping process and the speed, while observing the quality of the stripped parts. In addition, the core bar in/out speeds on the kit (low/high speed, depending on the stroke limit) can be controlled. The kit is fully retractable for easy access to the cores on the rear side of the machine, allowing maintenance operations or more rapid production changes.

Project example for a pipe seal of a nominal diameter of 50 and 100mm

The equipment
The machine proposed is an injection molding machine REP V69Y50 with a clamping force of 400 tons, including a kit specially designed for automatic stripping, a vacuum system, hydraulic top and bottom ejectors and ancillary heating comprising heating elements inside the cores to hold the core temperature during the stripping process.

The tooling consists of a 112-cavity mould (2 cores) and a 2-nozzle cold runner block for the part of a nominal diameter of 110mm. For the part of a nominal diameter of 50mm, we use a 208-cavity mould (4 cores) and a 4-nozzle cold runner block.

The cycle
After the mould opens, the ejectors move out to lift the frame-supported cores. The cores move to the rear of the press (electrical movement) and simultaneously the rotation of the two belts allows for sequential stripping of the pipe seals.

The runners are automatically stripped and separated from the parts during the core bar translation. Metal guides are used to separate the runners as the core bars index on the kit.

The runners are recovered in a receptacle inside the cage, whereas the parts are recovered at the discharge end of the cage extension in a receptacle or using an automatic conveyor.

When the cores move inside press, a laser detection unit is activated to guarantee no seal adheres to the cores. If this is the case, an alarm signals for operator action at the end of the in-stroke of the cores.

The result
On this project, the customer’s profitability requirements have been met. The stripping time reached for both types of seals was approximately 40 seconds.

The entire system is competitively priced, with an excellent investment/payback ratio. This is a simple, rugged solution that is both reliable and easy to control during production.

For more information, please contact…

 

REP CORPORATION
8N470 Tameling Court
Bartlett, IL 60103
Phone: 847-697-7210
www.repinjection.com
Tim Graham, President
tgraham@repcorp.com

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Jeff Tanner Named Midwest Sales Director For REP

Jeff Tanner

Jeff Tanner, Midwest Sales Director, REP Corporation

Bartlett, IL (Chicago) – Effective immediately, Jeff Tanner has been appointed the new Midwest Sales Director for REP Corporation, the world leader in rubber and TPE injection molding presses. This announcement was made by Tim Graham, President of REP Corporation, at the company’s headquarters in Bartlett, IL, near Chicago.

Tanner comes to REP with 29 years of experience in the rubber industry, having previously worked at a major OEM supplier to the automotive NVH sector. He has a thorough technical background in rubber injection molding, tooling and adhesion processes, as well as new product development.

Jeff will be based in Cadillac, Michigan and cover the Midwest region for REP. He can be reached at 847-514-8160 or jtanner@repcorp.com.

His interest includes fishing, hunting and camping.

REP is the largest builder of rubber and TPE injection presses in the world, with global affiliates and multi-national manufacturing locations.

For more information, please contact:

Tim Graham, President
REP Corporation
8N470 Tameling Court
Bartlett, IL 60103
Phone:  847-697-7210
Web:  www.repinjection.com

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Rep Names Jim Wirtz New Service Manager

jpwiirt

Jim Wirtz Service Manager

Bartlett, IL (Chicago) – REP Corporation, longtime leader in injection and other molding presses for rubber and TPE, announces the appointment of Jim Wirtz as Service Manager for the company, effective immediately.   The announcement was made at company headquarters by REP Corporation President Tim Graham.

Wirtz brings nearly a lifetime of experience in the rubber molding industry to REP, as his family owns and operates Wirtz Manufacturing, likewise a longtime leader in injection molding, based in Michigan, where Jim learned the business from all aspects of mold design and contract production.  When the family business redirected itself into battery manufacturing in the mid-1990’s, Jim’s passion for the rubber molding industry continued, as he helped design and construct various manufacturing facilities across the United States, in the rubber industry.    “My entire working life has been centered around the rubber injection and extrusion business.  It is an honor to be part of REP Corporation and the REP International global network, staying in the industry where my grandfather, father and I have all spent our careers.  It’s where I belong,” Jim notes.

Jim will be responsible for the service department and field technician network of REP, a leading supplier of injection, compression, transfer molding, plus tiremaking and devulcanization machinery.

For more information, please contact:
REP CORPORATION
8N750 Tameling Court
Bartlett, IL 60104
Phone:  847-697-7210
Web:  www.repinjection.com
Attention:  Tim Graham, President

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