Schmalz Inc. celebrated the completed warehouse and planned office floor expansion of its headquarters facility at 5850 Oak Forest Drive, Raleigh, NC, with a ribbon cutting. In attendance were Raleigh Mayor Pro Tempore Corey Branch, Wake County Commissioner Vickie Adamson, President and CEO of Schmalz Inc. Dr. Volker Schmitz, Schmalz Managing Director and Shareholder Dr. Kurt Schmalz, Schmalz Managing Director Andreas Beutel and Schmalz Management Board Member-Global Sales & Marketing, Thomas Lichtenberger.
Schmalz Inc. was founded in Raleigh 23 years ago and has grown rapidly ever since. The company completed the existing building in July 2016 and expanded it in 2019 and 2021, tripling the facility size. Now, the assembly warehouse and office floor expansions are being completed in phases, with the offices slated to be completed in early 2024. The current Phase II assembly warehouse expansion will extend the current footprint to 100,000 sq. ft. It will be followed by a Phase III expansion of approximately 40,000 sq. ft. Upon its completion, the Schmalz U.S. headquarters will encompass a total of 140,000 sq. ft. and will continue to accommodate the company's growth due to newly added product lines and more value-added solutions business from customers.
Schmalz' total investment in the property will be nearly $20 million. The investments to date have already doubled existing employment and are expected to lead to an additional 85 new jobs over the next few years with average wages and benefits above the Wake County norms.
"We are excited about this expansion for our customers and for the city of Raleigh," said Schmitz. "The expanded assembly warehouse will allow Schmalz Inc. to accommodate high demand products that require quick delivery to distributors and customers, as well as provide much needed additional capacity for value added assembly work. The additional office space will further aid our expansion in the North American market."
"Raleigh is a great city in which to work and live," said John Feutz, VP of Operations at Schmalz Inc. "We have access to outstanding engineering talent from nearby universities, great support from local, regional and state agencies, an international airport to receive product from our parent company and easy access to ship products to our U.S. customers. We are excited to partner with and invest further in this community."
The products that the expansion will enable include:
- Assembly of Schmalz aluminum workstation cranes (these were previously imported from overseas)
- Custom built end-of-arm robotic palletizer and de-palletizer tools used in manufacturing processes for kitchen cabinets and countertops, logistics warehouse automation, consumer packaging, metal, glass, food and beverage and other industries
- Newly added product lines such as collaborative robot end-of-arm tools, Binar Material Handling Servohoist systems and Palamatic Material Handling lifters for food and pharma applications.
"We reinvest 8% of annual revenues every year into hiring and training apprentices, co-op students and paid interns and are a proud member of the NCTAP Apprenticeship Program here in Raleigh," Feutz said.
For more information contact:
Schmalz Inc.
5850 Oak Forest Drive
Raleigh, NC 27616
919-713-0880
schmalz.us@schmalz.com
www.schmalz.com