Laminating Firm Seeks Protection From Creditors

Century Laminators Inc., once a sizable player in the printed circuit board industry, has filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code, listing debts in excess of $10 million.

In its Nov. 12 petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here, the Anaheim manufacturer of laminated circuit board materials said it had assets of less than $9 million.

Company officials could not be reached for comment Thursday and Century did not file a list of specific assets and debts with its initial petition.

William Lobel, the Irvine bankruptcy attorney representing the firm, said Century has about 120 employees.

The company, founded in 1976, at one time had more than 250 employees and annual sales of more than $40 million, according to Harvey Miller, a principal of Kirk-Miller Associates. The Palo Alto research firm tracks companies in the printed circuit board industry.

Miller said Century Laminators is one of about 15 so-called mass laminators in the nation, specializing in manufacturing multilayer laminated circuit boards, or sandwich boards, for original equipment manufacturers.

It is one of four mass laminating plants in Orange County, he said.

“The company has had a history of ups and downs,” Miller said. Its major problem--other than a long-lived recession in the entire computer and electronic components industry--is that “it only has the one product line, so it has had nothing else to sell” as the demand for prefabricated multilayer boards has decreased.