INglass, an Italian-based manufacturing corporation with existing facilities in Italy and China, broke ground this week on their first United States facility. Situated at 920 74th Street SW in Byron Center, the new location will house INglass’s HRSflow division, manufacturing hot runner systems for plastic injection molding.
About the project
The new, 45,000-square-foot facility marks the first phase of construction. The facility is designed to accommodate future expansion, in line with INglass’s business growth projections. It will feature significant roof windows and natural daylighting and will also include thickened concrete floors throughout, topped with epoxy resin and accommodating a flexible manufacturing layout.
The project is scheduled through the winter months, with a projected construction completion date of April 2015. Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. (O-A-K), West Michigan-based firm, is providing architectural design and construction services for the new facility, with engineering design partners from Century A&E.
Local impact
According to a statement released by The Right Place in April, the facility will employ 109 people over the next four years. Other West Michigan partners in the project include Real Estate Broker, NAI Wisinski.
“In the following years, this decision will lead the company to a growth equal or greater to the one that we achieved in the past. Grand Rapids in particular was chosen due its strategic position for the plastic injection market,” stated Maurizio Bazzo, President of INglass group.
The company chose to open this new workshop in Michigan in order to be a worldwide hot runner systems supplier present in Europe, Asia and America able to supply its customers all around the world. INglass-HRSflow wants to enable its customers to reduce their time-to-market and improve their overall operating efficiency.
Considering the successful experience in China, with the production plant built in Hangzhou in 2009, the company is going to employ the same machinery and quality standards compared to the Italian headquarters, assuring the best quality of its operational and management processes wherever they are located.
