Robot supplier Sepro America LLC has nearly doubled its space by moving from its original home in the Pittsburgh suburb of Emsworth, Pa., to nearly Warrendale.
The new building measures 16,500 square feet and includes a large area for assembly, testing and warehouse space. An 800-square-foot training room has an 18-foot ceiling, so it can accommodate large robots. Office space has doubled.
Jim Healy, vice president of sales and marketing, said the move was driven by recent double-digit growth of the company, and the need to do more training and application development.
In Emsworth, Sepro America had 9,150 square feet of space.
Sepro America is wholly owned by Sepro Robotique, based in La Roche-sur-Yon, France.
"This new facility gives us everything we need to serve our customers more effectively," Healy said. "After several years of expansion — in both robot sales and in employment numbers — we really needed a bigger, better space. Now we have much more office area, more training and conference room [area], as well as increased square footage for robot and tooling assembly, customer run-offs and equipment inventory."
North America has moved into the number one export market for Sepro Robotique, moving from third place five years ago, he said. A large portion of the growth has come on the West Coast. Where sales have tripled in the past year, when Sepro America named Paul Rudzinski as regional sales manager there.
Naming Lorne Burke as East Coast regional sales manager also helped give wider sales coverage, Healy said.
He said 2013 was an all-time record for Sepro America, as orders increased 34 percent over 2012 and double the amount of 2011. The French parent company has had an active presence in North America since 1989, serving injection molding.
Sepro America employs about 30, up from 20 in 2011. Healy said the operation plans to add at least two more positions this year.