CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis.—Nordson Corp. broke ground Nov. 1 on a 145,000-sq.-ft. building that will be the new world headquarters for EDI flat dies and Premier fluid coating dies.
The building will be located in an industrial park near three existing Nordson sites in Chippewa Falls, including the current EDI headquarters and extrusion die factory, a plant for Premier dies and all aftermarket service, and a technology center.
All functions of the die operation will be housed in the new headquarters, including sales and order processing, design and engineering, machining and polishing, technical support and administration.
The company will begin relocating those operations to the new facility in the summer of 2019, and the headquarters is scheduled to open in 2020.
Nordson employs 290 at its three current locations in Chippewa Falls. Nordson, a publicly traded industrial company based in Westlake, Ohio, bought Extrusion Dies Industries L.L.C. in 2012.
Nordson will invest in new equipment to make the dies. The company plans to continue investing in the headquarters plant throughout the next several years, buying more new equipment and upgrading existing systems. The building site includes room for future expansion of up to 79,200 square feet, according to Nordson.
"The new global hub for our EDI brands will redefine the way that dies are built," John Keane, executive vice president in charge of Nordson's Polymer Processing Systems (PPS) business, said. "Advanced manufacturing equipment will streamline workflow and produce dies with tighter tolerances. A complete reconfiguration of our operation will integrate people and resources previously deployed in separate locations, generating collaboration and synergy that will improve the customer experience and reduce lead times."
Keane declined to disclose the amount of the investment.
Nordson is investing in other expansions at its PPS business. The company is centralizing its Xaloy screw and barrel operations into a single, 194,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing center in Austintown, Ohio, near Youngstown. In Europe, Nordson is building a global hub in Muenster, Germany, for its BKG pelletizers, screen changers and melt filters.
In addition to Chippewa Falls, Nordson builds new extrusion and flat coating dies in Shanghai and in Saitama, Japan. Remanufacturing and rework services for dies are available at these locations, as well as in Muenster.