Fabrik molds route of expansion in McHenry

McHENRY – When an opportunity to expand presents itself, management at Fabrik Molded Plastics treads lightly.

Of course, that doesn't mean the McHenry-based company isn't growing. President Keith Wagner estimates that since early 2011, Fabrik has brought on between 50 and 75 employees.

It just means instead of adding as many clients as possible, the company has picked its spots, taking on new challenges only when they're sustainable and fit the long-term vision, Wagner said.

"How many new things can you handle at the same time?" he added. "You don't want to become stale. You want to keep ... doing something interesting, but only so many."

Beginning in 1980 as a small molding company with a couple machines in Algonquin, Fabrik has grown to be one of the largest plastics manufacturers in an area rich with them. About 300 employees work at the 120,000-square-foot facility today, which houses about 65 molding machines.

The company makes custom injection molds for the automotive, health care, electronic, consumer-industrial and appliance industries. So far this year, it has introduced more new products into production than in the last two combined.

"About half of what we do is for the automotive market," Wagner said. "We make a lot of buttons and switches. ... Anything that goes on cars."

Wagner is the third generation in his family to make a career of injection molding. His grandparents owned a molding company in Chicago where Wagner's father, Seth, worked.

In 1980, Seth Wagner decided to branch out and begin his own molding company. He's still the owner of Fabrik, but retired from day-to-day operations about five years ago.

Keith Wagner said the company has mainly built its customer base through the years by word-of-mouth.

"We don't have a lot of marketing and a lot of sales people out there," he said. "But sort of our reputation built our business."

Fabrik today ships to all over the U.S. and to manufacturers in other countries.

"We try to grow our local customer base and we've had some success with that," Wagner said. "I'd say 20 percent of our customer base is local and the rest of our customer base is really (spread out). We ship all over the world."

Some of the company's employee base, too, comes from outside the area. Wagner said it's tough to find young people willing to learn the more skilled factory positions.

They've had to seek out talent from around the country to fill positions from a skilled factory workforce beginning to age.

"Our challenges are finding talent locally to take on these high-tech trade jobs," Wagner said. "And we're willing to do internships and apprenticeships to get people."

Fabrik Molded Plastics:
What: An injection molded plastics manufacturer serving the automotive, health care, electronic, consumer-industrial and appliance industries.
Where: 5213 Prime Parkway, McHenry
More info: call 815-385-9480 or visit www.fabrikind.com