EnTech Plastics Celebrates 30 Years in Business

In February 2001, EnTech Plastics was featured in "Business Magazine." Founders Kevin and Sally Gearity appeared on the cover.

Kevin had two goals when he started EnTech Plastics and those were to create a company where all the employees had a sense of purpose and knew their efforts were appreciated and to provide customers with a level of service they would not find elsewhere. Kevin wanted EnTech’s customers to know that the “EnTech Team” was committed to the success of their business. These same goals continue to drive the business to this day.

Kevin’s goals for EnTech are complimentary. Having a team of dedicated and committed employees ensures customers will get the quality products they need when they need them, and having a group of highly satisfied customers ensures the success of the business, providing EnTech’s employees with long and rewarding careers.

At EnTech, employees are valued and feel a sense of engagement and satisfaction working at EnTech. Daily meetings at the beginning of every shift to review production needs keep everyone on track and a monthly meeting to review and financial and quality data keeps the long-term vision in focus. EnTech provides employees with the training they need to have successful careers and want them to “work to live” not “live to work.”

Kevin believes EnTech employees are a reflection of the values at EnTech and customers are encouraged to work directly with their counterparts within the organization. Some of the employees who customers frequently deal with include:

• Harold (Skip) Simmons. Skip has been a partner since the founding of EnTech and came on board as an employee in 2015. Although he is naturally suited to handle all financial matters (with a degree in accounting from Michigan State University and an MBA from Columbia University) Skip is equally adept at managing all Sales/Marketing related matters.
• Tami Case. Tami has been with EnTech for 20+ years as Administration Manager and obtained a wealth of manufacturing industry experience previous to working at EnTech. Tami also manages the Customer Service functions at EnTech and excels at keeping customers well informed on their project status and the EnTech team on the needs of customers.
• Teresa Gordan. Teresa has 15+ years of experience at EnTech. Teresa has worked her way up the organization over the years and has been the Quality Manager since 2020. She has successfully led EnTech through the FAI/PPAP process with customers like Becton Dickinson, Truck-Lite and Datascope. Teresa is currently preparing EnTech for its ISO 13485 Medical Certification scheduled for September 2026.
• Evert Rivera. Evert is EnTech’s Process Technician and has been with EnTech since its founding in 1996. He has had extensive training at Penn State in injection molding and has worked with a number of resin suppliers’ Technical Specialists to debug and solve complex injection molding issues.             

Building and maintaining strong customer relationships is what truly sets EnTech apart. A critical step in that process is first identifying those companies that can best utilize what EnTech has to offer. EnTech is not a 24/7 shop that produces millions of commodity products yearly for the big box stores.

EnTech’s primary customers are those companies that require low-to-mid volume production runs of engineered parts used in demanding environments. These environments include the industrial, medical, heavy-duty truck and electrical products industries, among others. EnTech operates a modern, 45,000 square foot, injection molding facility under tightly controlled conditions. They operate well-maintained injection molding machines, ranging in size from 44 tons to 1,100 tons, with state-of-the-art controllers that ensure a viable, effective, and efficient molding process. 

From the beginning, EnTech has eagerly accepted opportunities that other molders declined due to difficult part quality or tooling requirements. The goal is to correct any and all customer issues through the application of engineering and technology. By partnering with resin specialists, mold flow analysts, part designers and using technology-driven tool shops, this goal is achievable.

One example of EnTech’s solving difficult problems occurred a few years ago when EnTech learned of the problems one prospective customer was having. One of their molded parts had ongoing dimensional inconsistencies. Despite repeated attempts by their existing molder to solve the problem, the intermittent dimensional inconsistencies persisted. They asked EnTech to review the issue and propose a course of corrective action. After evaluating the part, a low volume industrial component, it was determined it was a good fit for EnTech capabilities and they took on the challenge.

To find the root cause and improve the process, a Design of Experiments (DOE) study was conducted. Once the best processing conditions were identified, a sample batch was produced and evaluated. Remaining out-of-spec dimensions were then compared to the tool steel.

Working closely with the customer, the tool shop, and the engineering team, EnTech identified the tooling changes needed to permanently correct the issue. After making those tooling changes, another sample batch was produced using the improved process and evaluated the formerly out-of-spec dimensions.

The results showed that the tooling updates solved the problem, and from that point forward the customer received parts that consistently met the specifications. Impressed by EnTech’s systemic and effective engineering approach, the customer eventually consolidated all of their North American molding business from five different vendors to one, EnTech.

Helping customers succeed is EnTech’s primary goal. Customers come first and Entech will work diligently to meet customer objectives. This philosophy has always been the foundation of success behind the business. 

EnTech has seen many changes over the past 30 years. The rise of big box stores and the subsequent outsourcing of manufacturing overseas have brought on many challenges. They are successfully taking on those challenges and are excited for the future.

EnTech leaders believe employee involvement and automation are key components for future success and prioritize investing in employee training and automation. This allows the employees to perform the more intellectually challenging, and rewarding, work while the automated systems efficiently perform the more mundane tasks.

From 1996 to today, and beyond, EnTech is here as your Custom Injection Molded Plastics Solutions Partner. If you have challenges with an existing part, or are working on a project that requires a complex or highly engineered injection molded plastic component or assembly, please reach out to us.