(From the June 27, 2011, issues of Rubber & Plastics News)
AKRON—Micro-Poise Measuring Systems L.L.C. is rapidly expanding on three fronts to strengthen its global base.
A maker of measuring and inspection equipment for the tire and automotive industries, the company plans to move to a 150,000-sq.-ft. facility in Streetsboro, Ohio, from its present plant in Akron, according to Marketing Manager Mark Muroski.
The site will become its new U.S. headquarters after the firm closes its present 120,000-sq.-ft. facility, a World War I vintage complex.
The firm plans to expand its work force of 150 and add employees, he said, but at this point he did not have the number of new jobs that will be created or a time frame on when the additions will be made.
Micro-Poise, which was founded in 1918 and operated for many years as Akron Standard Mold Co., will complete the move by the end of summer, Muroski said.
In early May, Micro-Poise said it will expand and relocate its European sales and service unit to an 80,000-sq.-ft. campus it will share with subsidiary Collmann GmbH in Lubeck, Germany, and in the process create a new European headquarters and a manufacturing base. It presently operates out of a facility in Hoogeveen, Netherlands.
Additional personnel will be added to the new operation in the near future.
The move is expected to be complete in early 2012
In January, the firm's Micro-Poise Industrial Equipment (Beijing) Co. Ltd. business in China added a production unit and expanded to a 40,000-sq.-ft. plant, which is three times larger than its former building in Beijing.
Its Asian headquarters is now located at that complex. The company previously handled a limited amount of manufacturing at its old site.
The firm also opened a sales and service unit in India about a year ago.
Micro-Poise had been unable to find a larger site in Akron that fit the company's needs, and was considering a move to Michigan until it found the plant in Streetsboro, roughly 20 miles northeast of Akron.
The city will provide Micro-Poise incentives as part of its tax credit grant program, according to Jeff Prichard, Streetsboro economic development director.
That helped keep Micro-Poise's world headquarters in Northeast Ohio, he said, adding that the new facility sits on a campus-type setting that offers convenient access to highways.
The Streetsboro facility is close to Akron and all its employees are expected to move with the company, Muroski said.
When the expansions are complete, Micro-Poise will have “enhanced its ability to be the most responsive company in the world supplying tire and automotive testing equipment,” and further strengthens its leadership position in both industries, said Steve Harris, CEO of Micro-Poise and Collmann.
Micro-Poise offers a complete line of uniformity machines, dynamic balancers and geometry measurement systems in the passenger and medium truck radial tire sectors. The company also makes X-Ray systems through its Collmann affiliate.
The company's Micro-Poise Balance Engineering unit, based in Troy, Mich., provides balancing technology in the automotive, light truck and heavy equipment industries.