Reusable packaging maker Orbis has acquired Robinson Industries, adding thermoforming to its operations and expanding production capacity in the US automotive region near Detroit.
Robinson Industries operates two sites in Coleman, Michigan, and employs around 100 people. The company has extensive experience in single- and twin-sheet thermoforming, sheet extrusion and structural foam injection moulding.
Orbis president Norm Kukuk said: “Robinson Industries’ legacy of innovation and technical excellence aligns with Orbis’s vision to transform supply chains through reusable packaging.
“By combining our strengths, we will accelerate design innovation, deliver faster solutions, and help customers achieve greater sustainability and efficiency.”
Product portfolio
Founded in the 1940s by Fred and Ardis Robinson, the company began with a Styrofoam product for Christmas trees and later developed machinery for large thermoformed components. According to the company’s website, Fred Robinson helped create equipment still used in the industry today, including rotary thermoforming machines.
In the 1950s, Robinson Industries produced thermoformed refrigerator door panels and later expanded into canoes, coolers and ice buckets. The company moved into automotive-focused thermoforming and injection moulding in the 1960s and subsequently added plastics pallets to its portfolio.
Orbis now produces custom pallets, lids and trays, mainly for automotive packaging, and also serves industrial, agricultural and retail markets.
