A Tennessee film maker is adding 30,000 square feet of new construction to create additional storage capacity in a move that also will free up existing space for new machinery.
FilmTech Inc., of Bean Station, near Knoxville, said excavation is complete and work now begins on construction that will bring the company's total space to 150,000 square feet on an 18-acre parcel.
All of the new construction will be used for storage of both finished goods and raw materials. A portion of the company's existing space now used for shipping and storage will be freed up to house a new 130-inch metalizing machine, said Joey Barnard, FilmTech's vice president of operations, during a July 20 interview.
The additional warehouse space is slated for completion by the end of this year and the new machinery is scheduled for 2023 installation.
The new metalizing equipment, the company's fourth such machine, will take up about 7,000 to 8,000 square feet of existing space. FilmTech already operates three metalizers, including one with a 130-inch width and two others with 112-inch widths, Barnard said.
Barnard pointed to the company's diversification as a reason why FilmTech needs to expand. "That fact that we are so diversified and just looking at where the industry is going in all of our different markets and just positioning ourselves to meet all of those different needs," Barnard said.
"Adding approximately 30,000 square feet, it allows us to have the additional storage, to have the finished goods as well as the raw materials," he said. "Diversification, right? We're in all different markets, from food packaging, construction, agricultural, print labeling. … It's being able to service all of those and the demand that we have," he said.
"We have been able to grow beyond our traditional converting markets and this expansion will support the new customers and equipment we have added in the last few years," Barnard said in a separate statement.
FilmTech provides film for the flexible packaging and barrier industries. The company, founded in 2001, has more than 80 employees. The existing workforce will be able to manage the duties associated with the additional space and machinery.