Two sister machinery companies named Kiefel are moving in together, as blown film equipment supplier Kiefel Inc. relocates from Wrentham, Mass., to thermoforming machinery operation Kiefel Technologies Inc. in Hampton, N.H.
Both firms are the North American units of Germany-based Kiefel AG, which is owned by Bruckner Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG of Siegsdorf, Germany.
Officials said the move will be completed Nov. 1, to consolidate the two Kiefel North American operations into one facility.
Kiefel Inc. President Jim Ciolino said the units will be able to share resources. ``There was really no need for having two separate locations for our companies, which were only 40 miles apart,'' he said.
Ciolino and Jamie Nelson, service manager, will relocate to New Hampshire. Wrentham is southwest of Boston. Hampton is just over the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border.
The blown film Kiefel operation in Wrentham included offices and a small warehouse, measuring a total of 12,000 square feet, said Steve DeSpain, vice president of sales. The Kiefel Technologies building is much larger — about 100,000 square feet — with a showroom and warehouse.
Manufacturing of both types of Kiefel machines is done in Germany — blown film lines and winders in Worms and thermoforming machines in Freilassing.
Wrentham is a fairly small operation, employing nine, DeSpain said. The firm will cut some redundancies in office and administrative positions and cover that with people in Hampton, he said.