In 2018, the toolmaking and injection molding specialist Rico opened a new plant in Thalheim. “We assumed that the area would last until 2025,” says Managing Director Markus Nuspl. Recently, however, the excavators went up again in Thalheim. 10,700 square meters of additional space will be created (production, warehouse, offices). 25 million euros are being invested, and 100 new jobs are to be gradually added. The times are uncertain, but there is no alternative: “We are bursting at the seams.”
Rico was founded in 1994 and has two pillars: On the one hand, the company is active as a toolmaker. “We build injection molding tools,” says Managing Director Markus Nuspl: You can imagine them like “cake baking molds” in which plastic and silicone parts are produced. Rico manufactures two thirds of these tools for its own use. On the other hand, silicone parts are mass-produced. “It’s several billion parts a year. We have a very good mix of industries,” says Nuspl: Rico products are supplied to car manufacturers as well as to household appliance and sanitary manufacturers and the medical industry. The spectrum ranges from sealing parts for the car industry to parts for coffee machines, dishwashers and shower heads to pacifiers, parts for respiratory masks, attachments for baby bottles and inserts for ketchup bottles.
Much in demand in medicine
The degree of automation at Rico is high: people work until 6 p.m., the machines run through the night. Sales in the past financial year (as of December 31) were around 50 million euros. This year it should be 55 million euros. 300 employees are employed, 15 apprentices have just started. Silicone has very good material properties, for example it is very well tolerated by humans, says Nuspl: The market is showing good growth rates every year. Above all, the demand from the medical sector is growing rapidly.
However, a lot of electricity is required for silicone injection molding: The raw material is filled into the molds at room temperature and then heated, which requires a lot of energy. “The sharp rise in electricity prices is a major challenge for us,” says Nuspl. An electricity price cap is necessary, also in order not to lose global competitiveness. Rico’s export quota is more than 95 percent, the parts go all over the world.
Nuspl has been the managing director since 2018. The holding company was founded this year, which includes the two Thalheim companies Rico and HTR as well as Silcoplast in Switzerland and Simtec in Florida. The Rico Group employs 500 people and achieved sales of 80 million euros in 2021.
Source: Nachrichten
