April 12, 2008

Xten Industries, an award-winning plastic injection molder and contract manufacturer, beat out overseas competition and began production of the popular British product, Bikebins, this week.

Executive Designer Sam Lowings began manufacturing the bins in the United Kingdom (UK) after discovering, in 2005, that the market lacked a supply of quality, water proof pannier bags. According to Lowings, “the idea for the Bins came as a result of cycling solo 9000 miles from London across Russia to the Pacific in 2005 (that's the furthest on the planet you can ever go on land!) I got fed up with my textile pannier bags which leaked, so had to design a hard-shell waterproof version when I got back.”

As the popularity and demand for the Bins increased, Lowings began to expand his line into the United States. A series of manufacturing and quality errors with his European manufacturers and issues with U.S. customs brought Lowing to the conclusion to move the Bin production for his North American customers to the United States.

Lowings searched extensively for a company to handle his North American distribution and capable of manufacturing higher quality parts. He found Xten Industries of Kenosha, WI, which now manufactures, warehouses and distributes Bikebins for the North American market.