By Stephen Downer
CORRESPONDENT
Published: August 27, 2014 3:19 pm ET
Updated: August 27, 2014 3:23 pm ET
Image By: Stephen Downer
Marc Thibault and Sandra Treblay of I Thibault Inc.
Canadian mold maker I Thibault Inc has purchased an established Mexican company, Tecnimoldes SA de CV, for a seven-figure-dollar-sum and renamed it Tibomoldes SAPI de CV. The new enterprise started operating in late June and two machines are being added to the equipment lineup included in the acquisition.
The new company provides mold maintenance, modification and repair services, Sandra Tremblay, who is I Thibault’s business development manager as well as Tibomoldes’ general manager, told Plastics News by email.
In an interview in late March, Tremblay had said that 70 percent of Thibault’s business was in Mexico. “All our customers have been asking” when Thibault would open a tool shop in Mexico, she said.
Based in Saint-Damien de Buckland, Quebec, Thibault has annual sales of $12 million, according to Marc Thibault, Thibault’s CEO, in the same Plastics News interview.
Thibault is primarily a supplier of molds for Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive industry suppliers, although the company will also service such sectors as domestic appliances, Marc Thibault and Tremblay said.
Tecnimoldes was already working with Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers for Volkswagen AG, which has an expanding light vehicle assembly plant in Puebla. The Puebla facility is one of only two Volkswagen plants in the Americas.
Founded by Marc Thibault’s father in 1963, Thibault includes companies such as recreational vehicle builder BRP Inc., Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Reebok International among its partners. Outside Canada, it has sales offices in Puebla, Mexico, and in Dongguan, China.
The new Tibomoldes operation has an 11,300-square-foot factory in Puebla. It employs 22. The machinery it uses includes four 3-axis CNC machines, one 5-axis CNC machine, three EDMs, a wire cutter, two laser welding machines, a lathe and a 20-ton crane.
Tremblay said a spotting press and a more powerful EDM have been acquired and will be delivered shortly.
Marc Thibault is Tibomoldes’ president, Antonio Esteban is its operations manager and Benigno Ronquillo its sales representative.
According to Tremblay, I Thibault will continue offering mold manufacturing services through its plant in Canada and its Asia unit. | 
