About Us

The History of Forté Products – Pioneers in Plastic Molding

Forté Products began in the 1950s as a local custom injection molder. We have since grown into a national leader in plastic and fiberglass molding, serving industries from airlines and commercial equipment to waste management and petroleum.

Initially focused on injection molding, Forté Products expanded into thermoforming and rotational molding in the late 1950s, becoming one of the first 10 rotomolders. Today, we continue to lead in rotational molding while also specializing in injection molding, fiberglass forming, and vacuum forming.

What started in a pre-WWII Quonset hut just outside of Kansas City, Missouri, has grown into four facilities across Kansas and Missouri. With equipment capable of handling a wide range of sizes, Forté Products is a trusted supplier to both small and mid-size OEMs as well as Fortune 100 companies.

Still privately owned, we remain committed to being a premier supplier of custom molded plastic parts while fostering a positive work environment for our dedicated team.

Kansas City skyline

A timeline of excellence.

PRE-1960

National Plastics – owned by Don and Gary Kitterman – offering injection and blow molding.

1960

Clorox introduces an alternative to its traditional glass container. National Plastics blow molds the first CLOROX® plastic bottle.

1973

National Plastics blow molds the casing for the first disposable cigarette lighter.

1985

The Kitterman’s sell the company to Don Robertson. Company offers injection and rotational molding as well as vacuum forming.

1993

Historic Missouri River flood overwhelms the Kansas City, MO production facility and home office. No production for 9 months without losing a single customer.

2001

With our preponderance of airline customers, the 9/11 terrorist attacks attributes to a 60% loss of business.

2005

Acquisition of The Molding Company brings the Farmington, MO plant and doubles the size of the company. Combined company was renamed Forté Product Solutions which quickly evolved to Forté Products.

2010

Larger rotational molding machines in Farmington enabled production of boats for the Pirates of the Caribbean® and It’s A Small World® Disneyland® rides.

2012-2014

Production begins for boats for the U.S. Navy

2017

Acquisition of Charloma, Inc. brings 3 manufacturing plants in Kansas, increases injection and rotational molding capacities, and adds fiberglass to the process offerings. It also triples the size of the company.

2021

Forté Products is awarded Supplier of the Year by AGCO – a $5B manufacturer of agricultural equipment – for maintaining product shipments throughout the supply chain issues created by the pandemic.

2022

Production begins for the Brunswick/Lund VEER® V13 boat which wins the 2023 Outstanding Innovation Award in the fishing boat category.

2023

Brad Robertson, who joined his father in 1985, assumes full ownership of Forté Products.