The company has its own onsite power generation plant and has a legacy of giving back generously to the community. It enjoys an exceptionally high employee satisfaction and retention rate. The average employee tenure at the company is 14 years, and there are several multi-generational employee families. Founded in 1953, Hoffer Plastics won the 2015 Illinois Governor’s Sustainability Award and was a recent Plastics Caps & Closures Innovation Award finalist for its Trust-T-Lok plastic closure.

On Friday, Oct. 6, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner celebrated National Manufacturing Month with a visit to Hoffer Plastics Corp. (South Elgin, IL), where he kicked off his  October “Built in Illinois Month” tour. He spent the afternoon at the Hoffer Plastics facilities and had the opportunity to meet and talk with employees from many different parts of the company.

Replacing highly heat-resistant plastics such as PPS with POM and PP not only reduces material costs but also helps reduce the carbon footprint of materials and energy consumption during molding.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner with Hoffer Plastics employees (left to right) Margarita Noriega, Heather Horner and Monica Cruz.

Japan’s Polyplastics says POM and PP can replace the likes of higher-cost PPS, which is typically used to channel coolant in internal combustion engines.

When the temperature of an LLC is 100°C or lower, general-purpose engineering plastics like POM or PP can be used instead of metals or high-performance engineering plastics. In the case of PP, Polyplastics sees potential for PP-LGF (long glass fiber) instead of short glass fiber to increase strength, dimensional accuracy, and overall performance. It also offers Duracon bG-POM made with biomass as an eco-friendly option.

“We are honored to have Governor Rauner visit us and talk about manufacturing and workforce development,” said President and CEO William Hoffer. “It is an important part of our mission to develop our employees as well as retain the ones we have. We were honored to have him here and hopefully we can work together on improving the employment situation in our area and certainly within the state.”

A family owned and operated, third-generation custom plastics injection molding manufacturer, Hoffer Plastics (South Elgin, IL) produces millions of plastic parts annually for a range of industries.

Hoffer Plastics takes pride in its company values of “family, service, integrity and trust” and in fostering a culture where “employees are treated like family.”

As the automotive industry moves from traditional ICE vehicles to BEVs, OEMs and part manufacturers are re-imagining the types of materials that can meet the new thermal management needs. Polyplastics believes that less-heat-resistant plastics like POM and PP have significant potential in the manufacture of EV cooling components.

Stephen has been with PlasticsToday and its preceding publications Modern Plastics and Injection Molding since 1992, throughout this time based in the Asia Pacific region, including stints in Japan, Australia, and his current location Singapore. His current beat focuses on automotive. Stephen is an avid folding bicycle rider, often taking his bike on overseas business trips, and is a proud dachshund owner.

Gov. Rauner acknowledged that it's hard for families to start a business and take risks. "Most of them fail. It's tough," he said. Rauner said the Hoffer family took the risks associated with starting a business and had success in building and growing the company into a global manufacturing firm. “You guys are a great team," he said.

Hoffer Plastics is a family owned and operated, third-generation custom plastics injection molding manufacturer. It produces millions of plastic parts annually for a range of industries and end uses such as food and beverage packaging, automotive, personal care, consumer, industrial and aeronautics. Hoffer Plastics also prides itself on being an innovator in environmental sustainability.

Until she retired in September 2021, Clare Goldsberry reported on the plastics industry for more than 30 years. In addition to the 10,000+ articles she has written, by her own estimation, she is the author of several books, including The Business of Injection Molding: How to succeed as a custom molder and Purchasing Injection Molds: A buyers guide. Goldsberry is a member of the Plastics Pioneers Association. She reflected on her long career in "Time to Say Good-Bye."

Manufacturing is the second largest industry in Illinois, with more than 12,000 firms employing nearly 600,000 Illinoisans. Ninety-two percent of the state’s exports are manufactured products.

Governor Rauner’s “Built in Illinois” month tour will continue across the state through the month of October. He ended his visit to Hoffer Plastics by awarding the company with a proclamation for “Built in Illinois” month in recognition of its role and contributions as a longstanding manufacturer and employer as well as industry and community leader.

Internal combustion engine (ICE) automobiles use a long-life coolant (LLC) that is primarily made of ethylene glycol. The coolant in engines is typically maintained at a temperature of 70° to 100°C but can rise to 120°C or higher if the engine overheats. Therefore, metals or high-heat-resistant plastics like polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) are used in the cooling components and lines.

BEVs do not have engines as heat sources and, therefore, require an LLC temperature of 100°C or lower to cool the battery. This allows for the use of less heat-resistant materials for BEV-specific components.

The Polyplastics Group, a global supplier of engineering thermoplastics, has introduced an approach for using less heat-resistant plastics for battery electric vehicle (BEV) cooling components. Polyplastics sees strong potential for plastics such as polyacetal (POM) and polypropylene (PP) for the production of EV cooling components.