Schmalz Inc. plans to expand its operations in Raleigh, N.C., breaking ground on a 38,000-square-foot facility that it hopes will be ready in March.
Schmalz supplies vacuum cups, sensors and generators that are used on tooling to load and unload injection molding machines, according to an email from company President Volker Schmitz.
The company also supplies lift-assist manipulators that are used with crane systems to lift and move large thermoformed parts, as well as lift bags, pails, drums and boxes of raw materials, he said.
The company already has plans for a second expansion at the 6-acre site. The second phase will add another 70,000 square feet in a couple of years, he said.
The groundbreaking on June 9 was attended by Wolfgang Schmalz, managing director of parent company J. Schmalz GmbH; Schmitz; North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and other government officials.
“We are very excited about this big important step for our company. This will be one of the largest company-owned facilities outside of Germany,” Schmalz said in a news release.
Schmalz has been growing since it opened a facility in Raleigh 16 years ago. It currently operates out of a 20,000 square foot building that it opened in 2009.
The new building will provide more room for testing and assembly of automation systems, along with a dedicated customer showroom, training rooms and increased office space.
Schmalz, based in Gratten, Germany, has a 105-year history and more than 450 patents.