Injection press maker Nissei America Inc. plans to move its headquarters to San Antonio, where the company opened its first U.S. manufacturing plant in 2018.
The San Antonio Economic Development Foundation announced the move from Anaheim, Calif., on June 23, and Nissei America confirmed the news.
Nagano, Japan-based parent company Nissei Plastic Industrial Co. Ltd. opened the 114,232-square-foot factory in Brooks City Base, south of downtown San Antonio, in May 2018, just after NPE2018. The factory is on the site of the former Brooks Air Force Base.
The consolidated headquarters will bring together all North American production and sales operations under one roof.
The company built the $21 million U.S. manufacturing operation to focus on medium- and large-tonnage injection molding machines. The factory was its third outside Japan.
"San Antonio presents great advantages for our U.S. headquarters in its accessibility and environment," said Hozumi Yoda, president of Nissei Plastic Industrial Co., in a news release from the economic development agency. "San Antonio's central location offers easy and quick access to other areas in the U.S., rapidly growing markets in Mexico, and its close proximity to the Port of Houston opens broader access to Central and South America as well as Europe.
"In addition, the region has one of the largest concentrations of employment in the manufacturing and plastic industry in the U.S. San Antonio has a great potential to prosper, and it is a very attractive environment for the future growth of Nissei America Inc.," Yoda said.
Automotive is a key end market for Nissei's big hybrid machines. The San Antonio plant currently assembles presses ranging from 500-1,440 tons of clamping force.
The company expects to finalize the headquarters relocation in July and to hire additional employees in San Antonio.
Nissei is publicly traded in Japan and posted sales of 41.6 billion yen ($374.8 million) for the fiscal year ending in March 2021. It has 1,330 employees.