Bay Plastics Machinery

What Bay Plastics Machinery does

Bay Plastics Machinery Co. LLC is a privately held, third-generation family-run industrial manufacturer headquartered at 3494 North Euclid, Bay City, Michigan, specializing in custom engineered strand pelletizing systems for plastics processors. The company designs, manufactures, and services a complete product line ranging from laboratory-scale units (BT 25 at 25 lbs/hour) to high-capacity industrial pelletizers (up to 20,000 lbs/hour) under multiple series (BP, SB, AXP, Z, ZE, BX, CXP, DX, P), complemented by auxiliary equipment including AK/VAK/EVAK air knives, WBX water baths, and Flash-Off conveyors. Proprietary technology includes US Patent #7,393,201 for the X-Class Micro Pelletizer (world's first micro strand pelletizer producing 0.015-inch pellets), a vacuum-assisted pelletizer that reduces fines, and a proprietary Stellite welding process that enables in-house rotor repair — a capability competitors reportedly cannot match.

The business operates across six revenue streams: capital equipment sales (strand pelletizers, conveyors, water baths, air knives), spare parts (rotors, feed rolls, bed knives with $1M+ inventory), machine rebuild services for any brand pelletizer (Conair, Rieter/Automatik, Cumberland), rotor sharpening and repair via in-house CNC machine shop, technical support and training, and on-site lab testing with twin-screw and single-screw extruders. GTM is enterprise field sales-led with direct regional offices in Michigan, Minnesota, and the Western US, supported by five channel partners covering the remaining US territories; pricing is quote-based with no public list pricing. Customers span plastics industry manufacturers, automotive component suppliers, building/construction materials producers, and specialty resin compounders; Dow Chemical is referenced as a historical anchor customer dating back to the original 1961 JETRO work.

The company traces its roots to 1961 (Tony Forgash Sr. founding JETRO Inc.), was acquired by Conair in 1974, and was reconstituted in 1997 by Tony Forgash Jr. and a core engineering team when Conair relocated production to Pennsylvania. A 1998 joint venture with German pelletizer manufacturer C.F. Scheer (Scheer-Bay Company) ended in 2008 when Scheer became insolvent; Bay Plastics Machinery subsequently acquired Scheer's ownership interests and consolidated operations under its current name. The company has remained independent and family-owned since, opening a second manufacturing plant (Plant Two) in 2012 and most recently launching the consumer-facing BPM Straw Cutter in 2024.

Name

Bay Plastics Machinery

Legal name

Bay Plastics Machinery Co. LLC

Website

https://bayplasticsmachinery.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bay Plastics Machinery is a privately held, third-generation family-run manufacturer in Bay City, Michigan that designs and builds custom strand pelletizing systems and auxiliary plastics processing equipment — from 25 lb/hr laboratory units to 20,000 lb/hr industrial pelletizers, plus air knives, water baths, conveyors, and spare parts — serving plastics, automotive, building, and specialty resin manufacturers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plastics Processing Equipment (Strand Pelletizers)

NAICS

Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing (326)

SIC

Plastic Materials, Synth Resins & Nonvulcan Elastomers (2821), Miscellaneous Plastics Products (3080)

akta.pro primary industry

Custom Toll Compounding & Pelletizing Services (IMANABAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Plastic & Rubber Recycling, Reprocessing & Pelletizing (IMANAOAN)

Keywords

• Strand pelletizing equipment
• Plastics processing machinery
• Pelletizer spare parts
• Thermoplastic compounding equipment
• Pultrusion pelletizer systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Bay City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Pelletizing Equipment Sales: Custom engineered strand pelletizers, air knives, water baths, conveyors, and complete pelletizing systems sold as capital equipment
2. Spare Parts Sales: Full inventory of spare parts including rotors, feed rolls, bearings, bed knives, doctor blades. Over $1 million in spare parts in stock. Parts available for all makes of pelletizing systems.
3. Machine Rebuild Services: Complete rebuilds of old and outdated equipment including Conair, Rieter/Automatik, and Cumberland pelletizers. Meets or exceeds OEM specifications with quick turnaround.
4. Technical Support and Training: Preventative maintenance programs, on-site service, training at customer plants or BPM facility. Factory-trained service personnel available globally.
5. Lab Testing Services: On-site strand pelletizing lab for individualized recommendations and testing of downstream extrusion configurations. Includes testing with twin-screw and single-screw extruders.
6. Rotor Sharpening and Repair: Machine shop dedicated to rotor sharpening and repair with CNC sharpening, blade replacement, weld repair, and journal repair capabilities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bay Plastics Machinery designs, manufactures, and services custom-engineered strand pelletizing systems for thermoplastic processing, with equipment capacities ranging from 25 lbs/hour to 20,000 lbs/hour. The product portfolio spans manual and automatic strand pelletizers (BT 25, BP50, SB, AXP, Z, ZE, BX, CXP, DX, P Series), air knives, water baths, flash-off conveyors, and the patented X-Class Micro Pelletizer. Complementary offerings include a full spare parts inventory (rotors, feed rolls, InduraMaxx® feedrolls, bed knives), rotor sharpening and repair services, complete machine rebuilds for any brand of pelletizer, technical support/training, and an on-site lab for material testing and process optimization.

Product overview

Bay Plastics Machinery is a custom manufacturer of strand pelletizing systems and auxiliary plastics processing equipment. The product portfolio centers on strand pelletizers ranging from laboratory-scale (BT 25 at 25 lb/hr) to high-capacity industrial units (CXP/DX series up to 20,000+ lb/hr), complemented by supporting equipment including air knives (AK, VAK, EVAK series), water baths (WBX series), flash-off conveyors, and the specialized X-Class Micro Pelletizer for micro-sized pellets. The company also offers a full range of spare parts (rotors, feed rolls, bed knives), rotor sharpening/repair services, machine rebuilds, technical support, and on-site lab testing services. The Straw Cutter represents a consumer-facing recycling product launched in 2024. All products are designed, manufactured, and serviced in-house at the Bay City, Michigan facility.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• InduraMaxx®: Proprietary feed roll product line for strand pelletizing processes, featuring proprietary rubber compound designed for the pelletizing market.

Products and services

• BT 25 Lab Series Pelletizers Bench-top laboratory pelletizer with production-scale features in a compact size. Handles up to four 1/8" diameter strands of olefins or two strands of engineered resins. Equipped with independent drives for feedroll and cutter for variable pellet sizes. Targeted at laboratory-scale testing and small batch production.
• BP50 Series Pelletizers Compact lab and light production pelletizer with capacity for 8-1/8" diameter strands (400-800 lbs/hour). Features near-vertical discharge, reduced feed roll to cut point distance, and tool-less cutting chamber entry for quick material changeover. Targeted at small to medium production needs.
• SB 100 & SB 50 Series Pelletizers Dependable pelletizers designed for larger lab or small production lines. Features tool-free cutting chamber access, safety interlock system, and push/pull bed knife adjustment for precise gap control and uniform pellet lengths.
• AXP Strand Pelletizers Versatile strand pelletizer available in 4", 6", 8", 12", and 16" rotor sizes with rates up to 6,500 lb/hr. Uses 50% less floor space than gearbox-driven pelletizers with simplified drive system and push/pull bed knife for accurate cutting gap control.
• Z Series Pelletizers Medium production pelletizer with rates of 500-2,500 lb/hr. Features supported bed knife holder on reinforced isolation plate for tighter cutting gaps, and removable feed table with rust-free cutting chamber.
• ZE Series Pelletizers
• BX Strand Pelletizers
• CXP Strand Pelletizers
• DX Strand Pelletizers
• "P" Series Pultrusion Pelletizer Specialized pelletizer engineered for pultruded long glass fiber thermoplastics. Features isolation coupler eliminating rotor deflection and proprietary .0005" gap capability between carbide blade rotor and carbide bed knife for clean cuts with minimal wear.
• Pultrusion Cleated Belt Puller Strand puller designed for high tension demands in pultrusion applications. Handles up to 40" width of uniform strands with maximum pull force of 4,000-6,000 lbs and speed range up to 250 ft/min.
• X-Class Micro Pelletizer
• AK Series Air Knives
• VAK Series Vacuum Air Knives
• EVAK Series Vacuum Air Knives
• WBX Series Water Baths
• Flash-Off Conveyors
• BPM Straw Cutter

Quantifiable outcome

• Pelletizers from 25 lbs/hour to 20,000 lbs/hour capacity
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• C.F. Scheer & CIE GmbH & Co.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1998Joint venture partnership with German pelletizer manufacturer C.F. Scheer & CIE creating Scheer Bay Company. Combined Bay Plastics and Scheer designs for pelletizer production and sales. Partnership ended in 2008 when Scheer declared insolvency in Germany. Bay Plastics purchased all ownership interests formerly held by C.F. Scheer.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• KraussMaffei: KraussMaffei is a large German plastics and rubber machinery incumbent offering compounding, extruding, and pelletizing systems. It competes with BPM at the higher end of integrated compounding and pelletizing lines where BPM's strand pelletizers are deployed as downstream equipment.
• Milacron: Milacron is a broad-incumbent US supplier of plastics processing technologies including injection molding, extrusion, and auxiliary equipment. Its pelletizing equipment competes with BPM, and its prior presence in the industry is reflected in BPM management's career histories.
• Nordson Corporation: Nordson is a diversified industrial precision technology supplier whose polymer processing systems include extrusion and pelletizing equipment serving similar compounding, masterbatch, and specialty resin customers as BPM.

Direct peers

• Hosokawa Alpine: Hosokawa Alpine is a German/Japanese manufacturer of plastics processing and size-reduction systems, including strand and underwater pelletizers for compounding lines. It competes with BPM across compounding, masterbatch, and specialty resin applications globally.
• Cumberland (ACS Group): Cumberland, part of ACS Group, manufactures granulators, pelletizers, and size-reduction equipment for plastics processors. BPM specifically rebuilds Cumberland pelletizers to OEM specs, indicating direct overlap in installed base, product offering, and customer profile.
• Davis-Standard: Davis-Standard supplies extrusion and pelletizing systems, including downstream strand pelletizing equipment, for plastics, rubber, and compounding applications. Its product portfolio overlaps with BPM's pelletizers and supporting air knives, water baths, and conveyors.
• Gneuss Kunststofftechnik: Gneuss is a German manufacturer of strand pelletizing systems and filtration equipment for the plastics and recycling industries. It directly competes with BPM in custom-engineered strand pelletizers and serves similar compounding, recycling, and fiber-reinforced material processors.
• Reduction Engineering (Scheer): Reduction Engineering, the successor to BPM's former joint venture partner C.F. Scheer, manufactures strand pelletizers and rotational molding equipment. It is a direct competitor that inherited Scheer's strand pelletizing technology base from the prior Scheer-Bay joint venture era.
• Conair Group: Conair is a direct peer and was the previous owner of BPM's predecessor (Conair JETRO) until 1997. Both companies manufacture strand pelletizers and complementary plastics auxiliary equipment such as air knives, water baths, and conveyors for plastics processors in North America.
• Maag Group: Maag is a Swiss manufacturer of gear pumps, pelletizing machinery, and filtration systems used in plastics and polymer processing. Its strand and underwater pelletizers compete head-to-head with BPM's equipment in compounding and masterbatch production lines globally.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/bayplasticsmachinery
• Xx.com/bay_plastics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bay Plastics Machinery