Caplugs' Colorful Array Stops Some Attendees in their Tracks

The colors are what stop most attendees in their tracks as they walk down the aisle past the Caplugs booth at IMTS 2018.

“When you have over 100,000 small plastic parts, it almost looks like candy or Lego,” says Melody Napierala, director of marketing and sales operations for the maker of plastic molded components used for product protection in markets such as medical, masking, energy, automotive, electronics, hydraulics and more.

“It takes all the adults at the shows back to their early kid days when they see so much color and variety of shapes,” says Napierala, who adds that the sight is even more impressive at their headquarters, where they have more than 450 million parts in stock..

Visual appeal aside, some of the more than 15,000 different types of Caplugs products are sure to fit shops’ and manufacturer’s needs, especially when they need to protect parts during shipping or packaging.

“Anyone who is working with metal parts can use our parts, and that is what we hope to get across in our booth when visitors come by,” Napierala says. “Most of our products are used for shipping or protecting the part. If a shop is machining a high-end tool bit, then they definitely need to protect it in transportation.”

Most attendees stop by the Caplugs booth to discuss an application that may include parts having fluids or oils inside chambers, and therefore require some type of capping system to protect it. Often, it is the threads on a part that need protection.

“Typically, our parts are less than 1 percent of the total cost of that part, so it is good insurance to protect the machined part,” Napierala says.

The Caplugs booth demonstrates the large amount of sizes and shapes of their products, which at times can be overwhelming, but it just goes to prove that problems and issues in the manufacturing process are varied.

“Customers don’t want to have custom parts done, and that is why we have so many standard sizes and shapes which can be utilized for their specific project,” she says. “If someone needs custom, we can do that for them, but chances are among all the color and sizes, we have something that will work just fine for them.”