Ritus purchases John Crane rubber seal facility

From Rubber & Plastics News

Vandalia, Illinois-Rubber and plastic moulder Ritus Corp. has purchased John Crane Inc.'s Vandalia molding plant to help bolster its rubber seal production capabilities.

The deal-effective 25 July-provides Ritus access to new markets with valuable cross-selling opportunities, a company spokeswoman said. Ritus-a longtime John Crane suppler-also found the Vandalia team's advanced technical engineering, speed-to-market and quality production capacity appealing, she said.

The cost of the transaction was not disclosed.

The operation is now known as VanSeal Corp. VanSeal has a long-term agreement with John Crane to make its components, and will be the largest brand designer and manufacturer of John Crane-brand seals, the spokeswoman said.

The newly formed unit also will sell sealing solutions under the new VanSeal brand name and plans to build on its design engineering reputation as a premier moulder of custom rubber components, she said.

The 13 000-sq.m. Vandalia plant will employ 100-plus and have the same management team, led by general manager Glen Hobbie. VanSeal's manufacturing capabilities include compression, transfer and injection moulding, cryogenic deflashing, precision trimming, flash-free tooling, automated assembly, automated vision inspection, and both metal- and plastic-to-rubber bonding.