- April 25, 2024
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No two projects at Polymer Fabrication are generally the same.
From parts for barcode scanners and windshields for small airplanes to factory funnels for potato chip companies and plastic soap holders, the Ormond Beach company completes a medley of different plastic sheet, rod and tube components. President and Owner Juan Loebel said his company has made plastic components for projects at NASA and Disney over the years. On Thursday, April 20, Loebel sat at his desk and sketched out a new product for the front desk of an optometrist in Daytona Beach Shores.
“Every day, a different dollar," he said.
The company is small — there are six employees total, and one of them is Loebel's wife. But its small size has been a blessing during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, since business has taken a 30-40% hit because of it; Loebel said a sizable portion of Polymer Fabrication's business came from the event and entertainment industry.
Still, the company is holding on. For the safety of his employees, there are also thermometers on hand to check temperatures.
“We are lucky because we don’t have a lot of people, and we work separate here,” Loebel said.
Polymer Fabrication has been in Ormond Beach since 1998. Loebel was born in Santiago Chile, but has lived in Ormond Beach since he was 12. He graduated from Mainland High School and later from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
He's a man with a sense of humor — while he doesn't have a favorite project he's ever been commissioned to do, he's one of a few people who can mention receiving an order from General Electric and making CT scan tubes for monkeys at the University of Boston in the span of a couple of minutes. Polymer Fabrication specializes in the projects that require precision, Loebel said.
The Ormond Beach Observer spoke with Ormond Beach Economic Director Brian Rademacher in late March, who said what's unique about Polymer Fabrication is their role in supply chain. For example, one of the company's customers is GermFree, an Ormond Beach manufacturer that specializes in mobile and modular biocontainment units. Polymer Fabrication, who is located down the road from GermFree inside the Airport Business Park, supplies all the plastic windows for their units.
“He’s a great example of another company that’s a small company, that you normally wouldn’t think of, but they’re manufacturing and helping supply materials to these larger companies that would not be able to finish their product if it wasn’t for them," Rademacher said.
