A NOTE ON SKB's ROTOMOLDING

The Third Time’s The Charm!

As I am writing this article, about 10 guys are over in our Rotomolding plant assembling our brand new Ferry 220 Rotomolding machine. When we first conceived of this plant almost 4 years ago, we never imagined we would be installing machine number three so soon.  Here’s how we wound up in this business.

About four years ago Andy Heyneman at Guitar Center suggested that I figure out how to make a rack case that would be more shallow and less expensive than our other racks. After giving careful
consideration to all of the various processes which could be used to mold this product, we settled on rotational molding.  Rotational molding involves hollow aluminum molds into which you pour a measured amount of fine powdered plastic, usually Polyethylene.  The mold then goes into a large oven and rotates on two axis until the plastic melts and coats the inside of the mold. Then it goes into a cooling chamber and finally to a staging area where the mold is disassembled and the newly
molded part is removed. Easy…..right? Wrong!

Southern California is loaded with companies that are involved in the rotational molding of plastics. They make OEM parts for companies - everything from motor homes to boats. They use very simple two-piece molds to make products such as fuel tanks or large containers that don’t have the aesthetic requirements of our products. Furthermore, our complicated four and six piece molds were a hassle and we quickly wore out our welcome at several companies.  So in the summer of ’96 we purchased the Case Street building, (yes… it’s true, our Rotomolding plant is located on Case Street) and ordered our first machine. By Christmas we were making parts and the
rest is history. Dave Sanderson, president.  In the months and years to come, Our SKB family, which has grown in number to over 600 full time employees will be keeping you informed in an informal way, about the goings on here at our various facilities in Orange, California.

Please feel free to contact us at any time with questions or comments.