In the small industrial town of Mansfield, Ohio, a factory hums with activity 24/7. Their mission: to supply The Home Depot with the exclusive HDX storage totes sold in stores across the U.S. and Canada. The company: Edge Plastics, Inc.
Edge Plastics began as D&M Plastics back in the mid-1970s and was founded by Marilyn and David Eckstein. D&M started out as a custom injection molding manufacturing company, molding bicycle seats, handles for the fixture industry and food containers. They later branched out to housewares.
Their daughter, Shelley Fisher, joined the business in the 1980s after getting her MBA from The Ohio State University. In 2005, she bought the company and renamed it Edge Plastics, expanding the business to tap into the retail market.
Edge, a Women’s Business Enterprise Certified (WBEC) company, has been a valued Home Depot supplier for 10 years. In the last few years, Edge has more than doubled its workforce and expanded its factory to keep up with demand. Shelley has invested in technology like new injection molding equipment and robots to boost production.
The robots refine the manufacturing associates’ workflow and eliminate the repetitive motion of lifting the totes and manually applying the label. This improves the quality of the finished product and reduces physical fatigue.
These advancements support the company’s commitment to providing the highest quality products at the best value possible. To keep them on track, Shelley has a very succinct philosophy for her business: “We take on a client. We support the client. That’s it.”
Lawrence Bosel, The Home Depot’s merchant for garage and general organization, has witnessed many partners struggle with unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The past couple years have been difficult all around for my vendors due to unprecedented demand, commodity inflation and supply chain constraints.”
“With all this occurring, Edge was quick to invest in tooling for our business, which assisted us in getting back in stock well before the market,” says Lawrence. Edge Plastics continues to deliver on their commitment to supply high quality products.
