Starplex’s origins date back to the 1970s, and encompass several stages of growth and expansion. Over the 40-plus years in operation, we have become a trusted supplier of sample collection and transportation products for both the clinical and industrial markets for the Starplex branded products, as well as the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical markets for plastic packaging components. Our sales and distribution coverage includes every Province and State in North America.
The Saint-Laurent (Montreal) facility has been molding plastic components for over 40 years at the Halpern Rue location. Originally founded by Frank Lipsz as a family owned and run manufacturing company, the same strong family values are still evident today in the teamwork and camaraderie of the employees. The Lipsz family acquired their first Jomar machine in 1979, with a vision to become a major injection blow molding (IBM) player in Canada. Their success came to the attention of Pretium Packaging, USA, which purchased the business in 2000 to create Pretium Canada Packaging ULC. Although it was the first of three Pretium acquisitions that have come to comprise the Starplex brand, it is the most recent location to bear the Starplex logo and focus on serving the medical and healthcare market.
The Starplex brand was originally associated with the Etobicoke (Toronto) facility, where Starplex built a reputation as an innovative manufacturer of microbial and viral collection and transportation medical devices over the past 30-plus years. The experienced staff oversees molding, media production, labelling and packaging of Starplex’s core product lines, and has long-standing relationships with leading hospital systems, laboratories, food production facilities and medical distribution entities across Canada.
In 2008, Starplex expanded to Cleveland, Tennessee. This expansion allowed Starplex to expand its sample collection and transportation devices and pharmaceutical bottles to a new geography, where it could more easily access customers in the eastern United States. It also gave Starplex a trusted brand of HDPE packer bottles, oblongs and Boston rounds used for both pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements.
With its stellar reputation in the industry for innovative healthcare solutions, Starplex was adopted as Pretium’s medical and consumer health brand in 2019, bringing both the Etobicoke and Cleveland locations into the fast-growing Pretium network. Now with the additional manufacturing capacity of the Saint-Laurent facility, Starplex is truly able to service customers with the same products and attention from all three integrated locations.
While each of our facilities is special as a result of the rich history of its employees, growth and innovation have been accelerated as part of the Pretium Packaging family and our equity partner, Clearlake Capital. Click here for more information about the specialized capabilities at each of our three facilities.
