NewAge Industries Inc., a manufacturer of plastic, rubber and silicone tubing, hose and molded components, is spending $9.5 million for a 40,000-square-foot expansion of its manufacturing and warehouse space in Southampton, Pa., just north of Philadelphia.
The new space will be divided equally between ISO Class 7 clean rooms and warehousing space, the company said.
Existing structures within the area were demolished in the fall of 2016, according to NewAge. Painting, utility work and other preparations followed, and the next phase involves clean room engineering, design and construction by AES Clean Technology Inc. of Montgomeryville, Pa., the company said.
NewAge said it expects to move equipment from existing clean rooms to the renovated space by the second quarter of 2017. The company expects to hire 35 to 40 workers for the expansion over the next five years, adding to its current total of 126.
The expansion was motivated primarily by the success of NewAge's AdvantaPure product line, according to the company.
AdvantaPure tubing, hose and molded components are manufactured for high-purity, single-use biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical applications such as vaccine production and cell culture media transfer for harvest, filtration, fermentation, sampling and storage, NewAge said.
NewAge's AdvantaPure Division has been in operation since 2002, according to the company. It supplies the biomedical, food, beverage and chemical industries, in addition to its pharmaceutical and biopharma applications.
Production flow is the key benefit NewAge will receive from the expansion, according to Michael Tangreti, NewAge director of marketing.
"The new manufacturing area has been methodically laid out for efficiency and to reduce particulate," Tangreti said. "Raw materials will all come in at one entry point, and finished product will exit at another. In between will be production, packaging and inspection.
"The different sections will have air locks to act as buffer zones for particulate entry," he said. "This will help minimize particulate and wear and tear on the clean rooms' air systems. If particulate isn't created or brought into the clean rooms in the first place, it doesn't then have to be removed."
Increased capacity also will bring major benefits to New Age, according to Tangreti.
"Our current clean rooms were installed on an as-needed basis, using existing space available in the building," he said. "The work flow through these rooms is not as streamlined or systematic as we would like.
"The new space has been designed from the ground up, with input from all involved departments and with a focus on efficiency," he said.
Besides AdvantaPure, NewAge is enjoying continued success with its food and beverage transfer hoses, according to Tangreti.
"Some are best suited for dairy products, while others handle beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages better," he said. "In general, NewAge's silicone products and our Nylobrade reinforced PVC hose are growing well."
NewAge's gross annual sales totaled $41 million last year, according to the company.
