Tri-Mack celebrates 50 years of technical problem-solving

Tri-Mack Plastics Manufacturing Corp. (Bristol, RI, U.S.) marks 50 years as a solutions provider to the aerospace, defense, industrial and energy industries. “Every part matters” to Tri-Mack, a saying that is reflected in its use of high-temperature thermoplastics and wide array of manufacturing processes for components and assemblies.

Founded in 1974 by husband and wife chemists with a focus on solving friction wear challenges using filled thermoplastics, Tri-Mack’s started with compression molding and parts fabrication using manual lathes. The Mack family values — respect, integrity and accountability — have been, and continue to be the foundation for the company’s culture.

“From the beginning, Tri-Mack was not just a built-to-print job shop,” notes Tri-Mack president Tom Kneath. “Our customers were not typically knowledgeable about thermoplastic materials, their benefits or how to design for them, so we became an extension of their engineering teams. We built a collaborative approach to provide material guidance, design for manufacturability and process engineering to help our customers develop the best solutions.”

This emphasis on technical problem-solving has fueled Tri-Mack’s expansion throughout its history in the composites industry. As opportunities have required new capabilities, Kneath says that Tri-Mack has always been willing to invest in equipment and technology to expand the types of parts it produces and increase the value delivered to its customers. 

Tri-Mack’s vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities include thermoplastic composite processing, high-tonnage injection molding, toolmaking, precision multi-axis CNC machining, bonding/assembly and functional testing. The solutions supplied by Tri-Mack are typically multipart assemblies that are high quality, lightweight and offer enhanced performance, part consolidation and cost reduction.

“With Tri-Mack’s focus on thermoplastics since 1974, we have been in a unique position to support the aerospace industry’s drive to reduce weight and improve efficiency,” says Kneath. “It was an easy decision to add thermoplastic composite [TPC] processing in 2010 because this was a natural extension of the work we did every day — the same materials in a different form, processed with similar parameters. With the growth in commercial aerospace, our customers were looking for the next technology to improve fuel efficiency and meet high-rate production and our TPC automated tape laying, press consolidation and stamp forming processes help reach these goals.”

Tri-Mack also specializes in the development of TPC hybrids — parts that combine the mechanical performance of TPCs with the design flexibility of injection molding. Tri-Mack molded its first hybrid parts in 2013 and went on to develop a one-step process using a robotic injection molding cell to form the TPC in the injection mold. “This is what we have always done as a company,” Kneath concludes. “We leverage all of our skills to develop the best solutions for our customers.”