Armand Manufacturing Incorporated

    By Art Nadler

    It's not something one would think about, but if you're ever in a situation where paramedics ard placing a plastic oxygen bag over your face, be assured that it is of the highest quality and was probably made by a company from Southern Nevada. Armand Manufacturing Inc., located at 2399 Silver Wolf Drive in Henderson, NV., is a leader in the production of vinyl and polyethylene bags and covers. The company has been around since 1948, having relocated its corporate headquarters to Henderson in 1997.

    Rich de Heras is president of Armand. His father started the company in Southern California and originally made covers for various household appliances, garment and shoe bags and patio furniture. The last consumer retail item Armand manufactured, de Heras says, was a swamp cooler cover for Sears. Production was stopped in 1991. "We have been slowly moving out of retail,'' de Heras says. "Commercial and industrial products are what we make now.''

    The new line includes such items as: vinyl tool pouches; document, price tag and shop travelers' holders; medical bags; protective covers and various covers for specialty items. Armand also makes static safe cushion bags for Hewlett Packard, static safe bags for TRW, dental product holders for 3M, badge holders for NASCAR, equipment covers for Pratt and Whitney and product holders for Rockwell.

    In all, de Heras says Armand does business with approximately 400 companies nationally and on a limited foreign basis. "Some are billion-dollar corporations, but the public wouldn't know about them,'' de Heras says. "We make several thousand items.''

    Unlike some companies Armand's size, de Heras says he's willing to do small orders - even some for as little as $100. His theory is that a lot of small orders can easily add up to a big payday, which is a lot more productive than chasing a few large orders. "We are in a business where you have to be a fighter and scrapper',' de Heras says. "We thrive on diversity and the challenge of using your head and thinking.''

    This "can-do'' attitude is something de Heras says he inherited from his father. Back during this nation's race to the moon, NASA asked Armand to design a clean room for transporting Douglas Aircraft equipment from Los Angeles to Cape Canaveral, Fla. Constructing a huge plastic tent on a barge and running it through the Panama Canal solved the problem. Besides producing vinyl and polyethylene bags and covers, Armand is also capable of doing RF sealing, heat sealing, imprinting, die cutting and sewing. The company even makes racing engine covers for Toyota, Honda and Ford.

    For more information, contact: Armand Manufacturing Inc., 2399 Silver Wolf Drive, Henderson, NV. 89015-4431. Phone: (702) 565-7500. FAX: (702) 565-3838. Web Site: www.armandmfg.com