MILWAUKEE (Aug. 1, 1 p.m. ET) — HellermannTyton Corp. plans to expand its wire and cable management and identification products business with a third plant in Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee-based firm bought an existing building in the city and is renovating it with a target startup by the end of the year. The building purchase and renovation plus acquisition of five new injection presses and other equipment will cost about $6.5 million, according to HellermannTyton President James Campion.
After the new presses are installed the company will transfer some of the presses in its 50-machine headquarters plant to it third, recently purchased site, a 93,000-square-foot facility. Up to $1 million has been budgeted for the new injection molding machines and other equipment.
Campion said recent growth spurred the expansion plan. Much of the growth has been through replacement of metal parts with plastic ones. HellermannTyton’s engineers are constantly looking for ways to make functional plastic components.
The company injection molds and extrudes engineered fasteners, electrical mounts, connectors, clamps, wiring protectors and it makes a range of related equipment. In addition to its headquarters plant, HellermannTyton’s second facility is an extrusion operation in Milwaukee. Assembly is included in its operations.
“After the move we will move on to phase II,” Campion said in a telephone interview. “We will expand here at our headquarters plant, with a larger tool room and more space for quality control and research and development.”
Campion did not provide a cost estimate for the second expansion phase targeted for 2013.
HellermannTyton sells to Tier 1 automotive suppliers, truck manufacturers, heavy equipment producers, electrical supply houses and other heavy industry. Customers include Navistar International Corp., Ford Motor Co., Freightliner Trucks division of Daimler Trucks North America LLC, Deere & Co., and Caterpillar Inc.
HellermannTyton runs high-cavitation injection tools on presses with clamp forces ranging from 250 to 1,000 tons. Its operations are highly automated.
The firm has 34 affiliated operations around the world employing about 2,500. Milwaukee operations currently employ about 250 and that roster will swell by another 25 when the third plant is running. Affiliates count among their customers the offshore operations of Milwaukee’s North American clients.
The firm has a $2.75 million loan from the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp. to assist with the expansion.
Established in 1969, HellermannTyton is owned by London private equity firm Doughty Hanson & Co.
