MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Oct. 19) — Graco Inc. plans to move its Gusmer/Decker reaction injection molding machinery business from its Lakewood, N.J., plant to its expanded facility in North Canton, Ohio, in November.
The centralized location will better serve the firm´s North American RIM and automotive customers, the company said. Gusmer/Decker´s RIM-automotive business unit, which has a big presence in the urethane processing machinery industry, will be closer to its reaction injection molding and automotive customers and give it the ability to better manage large projects, a spokesman said.
Graco recently completed expanding the North Canton site by 58,000 square feet to boost its size to about 131,250 square feet. Once the firm has completed the move, it´s expected to close the leased Lakewood plant, he said. The company did not give the cost of the project and nor provide details on personnel at either plant.
The new location provides a 10,000-sq.-ft. demonstration center to handle customer training for application and product development. It also has an additional 30,000 square feet for staging requirements of large projects.
Graco plans to overlap key functions between the two facilities to provide uninterrupted service to customers during the relocation, according to Jess Johnson, the company´s director of sales and marketing. The firm also has increased inventory and systems inventory to ensure it has product on hand.