CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NN, Inc. (NASDAQ: NNBR), a global diversified industrial company that engineers and manufactures high-precision components and assemblies, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its lone plastics products plant known as Industrial Molding Corporation (IMC), to Davalor Mold Company, a wholly owned portfolio company of Blackford Capital. Total net cash proceeds will be approximately $16 million.

“We serve leading companies across many industrial segments, where on-demand manufacturing can help manufacturers reduce working capital, respond to unpredictable customer demand or tap into revenue growth streams with lower volume end products tailored to specific customer needs,” said Holt. Beyond medical manufacturing, those segments include computer/electronics, aerospace, industrial equipment and even automotive, according to Holt. “My favorite examples are customers who have launched successful products because of Proto Labs that they could not previously afford to launch with their existing supply chain,” added Holt.

NN, Inc., a global diversified industrial company, combines advanced engineering and production capabilities with in-depth materials science expertise to design and manufacture high-precision components and assemblies for a variety of markets on a global basis. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, NN has facilities in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. For more information about the company and its products, please visit www.nninc.com.

The medical device market is one beneficiary of this service because it often has products with fairly low total annual volumes and unpredictable demand, CEO Vicki Holt told PlasticsToday. But, she added, on-demand manufacturing reduces supply chain risk and brings value across all industries where there is either demand volatility or low- to mid-volume annual production quantities.

Editor in chief of PlasticsToday since 2015, Norbert Sparrow has more than 30 years of editorial experience in business-to-business media. He studied journalism at the Centre Universitaire d'Etudes du Journalisme in Strasbourg, France, where he earned a master's degree.

Digital manufacturing company Proto Labs (Maple Plain, MN) announced today that it has added on-demand manufacturing of low-volume, high-mix products to its suite of services.

NN is committed to creating a sustainable and profitable growth business model by participating in large growing markets; partnering with innovative customers on innovative programs; and providing unique value through a global footprint of plants delivering high quality and on-time performance. NN is also strengthening its core values around climate leadership, diversity, and inclusion.

Investor & Media Contacts:Joe Caminiti or Stephen Poe, InvestorsTim Peters or Emma Brandeis, MediaNNBR@alpha-ir.com 312-445-2870

Just about a year ago, Proto Labs opened a 77,000-square-foot additive manufacturing hub in Cary, NC, which houses more than 70 machines and has room for 70 more. That is consistent with Proto Labs' strategy of offering a range of manufacturing services to meet demand for low-volume, high-mix plastic parts, noted Holt, including CNC machining, 3D printing and injection molding.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and include this statement for purposes of complying with these safe harbor provisions. Except for specific historical information, many of the matters discussed in this press release may express or imply projections of revenues or expenditures, statements of plans and objectives or future operations or statements of future economic performance. These statements may discuss goals, intentions, and expectations as to future trends, plans, events, results of operations or financial condition, or state other information relating to NN, Inc. based on current beliefs of management as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Forward-looking statements generally will be accompanied by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “guidance,” “intend,” “may,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project” or other similar words, phrases or expressions. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that are outside of management’s control and that may cause actual results to be materially different from such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, general economic conditions and economic conditions in the industrial sector; the impacts of pandemics, epidemics, disease outbreaks and other public health crises on our financial condition, business operations and liquidity; competitive influences; risks that current customers will commence or increase captive production; risks of capacity underutilization; quality issues; material changes in the costs and availability of raw materials; economic, social, political and geopolitical instability, military conflict, currency fluctuation, and other risks of doing business outside of the United States; inflationary pressures and changes in the cost or availability of materials, supply chain shortages and disruptions, the availability of labor and labor disruptions along the supply chain; our dependence on certain major customers, some of whom are not parties to long-term agreements (and/or are terminable on short notice); the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, as well as expansion of end markets and product offerings; our ability to hire or retain key personnel; the level of our indebtedness; the restrictions contained in our debt agreements; our ability to obtain financing at favorable rates, if at all, and to refinance existing debt as it matures; new laws and governmental regulations; the impact of climate change on our operations; and cyber liability or potential liability for breaches of our or our service providers’ information technology systems or business operations disruptions. The foregoing factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in the Company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law. New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict their occurrence or how they will affect the Company. The Company qualifies all forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

“Digital inspection reporting is a final checkpoint for the digital thread as it moves from CAD model to final part,” said Jeff Schipper, Director of Special Operations at Proto Labs, and lead engineer in the metrology lab. “We’ve always provided our customers with front-end design analysis on their CAD models really fast—digital inspections bookend this process by significantly reducing the cost and time associated with conventional inspection reporting.”

“Since every manufacturing project is different, our two injection molding options let customers begin to focus on what is really needed from their tooling,” explained Becky Cater, Global Product Manager for injection molding at Proto Labs. “Whether it’s a product development need for molded prototypes or a strategic partnership for on-demand production parts, we now have a total solution for the entire life cycle of a product.”

Proto Labs has also announced the opening of its first metrology lab for enhanced inspection reporting on end-use production parts. The lab houses a range of standard inspection equipment, as well as state-of-the-art 3D scanners that provide an automated 360-degree look at parts within minutes. In addition to the standard range of first article inspection reports, the company also offers a digital inspection report that includes a precision surface scan with a detailed color map for a direct CAD-to-scan comparison to quickly identify dimensional variances on parts.

“NN is underway with a strategic transformation that includes leveraging our core competencies and implementing a supportive balance sheet” said Harold Bevis, President and CEO of NN, Inc. “IMC is a good, stand-alone plastics injection-molding plant and is not core to our strategic direction. Our core competencies are centered upon delivering globally competitive, mission critical manufacturing solutions to discriminating buyers of high-value, high-precision components and sub-assemblies. This plant is not consistent with this direction and is more general-purpose in nature. Furthermore, the products and customers in this plant are unique to it and there will be no impact to NN’s remaining business. The plant’s business is centered in generic vehicle parts and ball bearing components.”

“Comparing the last two of these services, we find that 3D printing tends to work best for very complex designs that cannot be made in another process. For designs where this is not true, beyond a few [other] parts, the economics favor Proto Labs’ technology-enabled digital process for manufacturing a custom injection molded tool and molding the parts,” explained Holt. “Given our injection molding process and prices, our experience is that if the part is manufacturable via injection molding, it usually makes economic sense to build an injection mold tool and mold the parts rather than print them, unless you are making a small handful of total parts.” Proto Labs intends to play in both on-demand manufacturing of injection molded parts and 3D printed parts, said Holt.

“A key element of NN’s transformation and leadership plan is to progressively correct our balance sheet back to market norms. We will pay down debt with the net proceeds from this transaction and continue to advance our balance sheet initiatives. We have a tremendous amount of opportunities in front of us and are excited to implement them. We will continue to focus and refine our business plans in our chosen markets of auto, electrical, industrial and medical,” said Bevis.

On-demand manufacturing capabilities are designed to address a gap in manufacturing services for low-volume, custom molded components.

As a result of this portfolio divestiture and debt reduction and deleveraging transaction, NN is revising its full-year 2024 outlook modestly as follows:

The new capability is designed to address a gap in manufacturing services for low-volume, custom molded components, said the company in a press release. “Companies had to purchase in large volumes to meet the minimum order quantities often required by traditional manufacturers, and work with multiple vendors to address varied needs from prototyping to final part production,” said Proto Labs. By tailoring its offerings to specifically address the needs of both prototyping and on-demand manufacturing, Proto Labs is able to reduce cost and the time spent on parts procurement.