Custom injection molder Flocon Inc. is settling into its new headquarters and manufacturing space in Woodstock, Ill., after relocating operations from a smaller site about 30 minutes away.
The 670,000-square-foot corporate campus is more than five times larger than the company's former headquarters in Cary, Ill., where Flocon occupied two facilities totaling 133,000 square feet.
The company sold one of the buildings to an adjacent manufacturer, but has retained the other 50,000-square-foot building and is evaluating long-term use options for the facility.
The move, driven by increased product demand, also expands research and development, office space, engineering, manufacturing, and marketing and sales functions across two facilities on the new 58-acre campus.
Stephan Ballot, vice president of Flocon, did not disclose how much the company has invested in the corporate campus and relocation, but said the total ongoing investment is "significant."
"It represents the largest capital investment to date in the history of our company," he said in a July 26 phone interview.
Flocon employs an estimated 125 workers at the Woodstock site, with plans to add quite a few more.
"We've got a lot of growth on the horizon that we're lining up with a number of existing and a couple of new customers for us, so we're expecting that number to expand quite a bit," Ballot said.
He estimated the company will add 30 more workers in 2018.
The campus, which has been in development for around two years, houses administrative functions, new product development, automated assembly and quality control at what the company refers to as the Lakeside Center, a roughly 130,000-square-foot building.
Warehousing, distribution functions and fluid-filling and packaging services are housed in the Parkside Center, a massive 540,000-square-foot building that will eventually integrate new processes and production lines.
"That's the one that really allows us incredible opportunity for growth," Ballot said.
The Parkside Center provides Flocon with approximately 90,000 square feet of manufacturing space, 160,000 square feet for warehousing and distribution, with the balance of the space being prepped for new and future product lines.
In a July 25 news release, Ballot called the move "transformative" for the company, which manufactures various plastic components, including valve-actuated dispensing pens, fine-mist spray pumps, lotion pumps and other specialty closures and applicator tips, among other parts.
"It provides an incredible base to better service existing customers, and it allows us to expand our product range," he said in a statement. "We have several new programs that will be introduced over the next three years, and the Woodstock campus provides the space and flexibility required to add staff, manufacturing lines and logistical support."
Flocon has four other sites, including a filling services and warehousing facility in Frankfort, Ill.; both a technical center and an injection molding facility, which operates under the name Flotek Inc., in Harvard, Ill.; and a manufacturing and distribution facility near Glasgow in Scotland. The company employs about 220 across all its locations.