Our Tacoma aerospace manufacturing facility expansion is going according to plan! Our building demolition phase was completed by the end of September 2018 and we are on track to break ground on new construction in October 2018. Our new facility’s first floor will feature a customer lobby featuring historical Tool Gauge story boards, pictures, and artifacts, as well as employee lockers and a lunch area. The second floor will house two conference rooms, six offices, and 14 work spaces. Our key expansion objectives are as follows:

 

• • An additional 80,000 sq. ft. in our plastics division
• • Expansion of our plastics press size range
• • Broadening of our secondary operations to improve flow and ergonomic assembly
• • Installation of a new, state-of-the-art vertical paint system
• • An additional 2,000 sq. ft. for CNC equipment within our metals division
• • Implementation of multiple collaborative robots (cobots)

 

Once our new facility is complete, we expect to create between 100 and 150 new jobs over the next five years for the Tacoma-Pierce County region. We will grow from 135 employees currently to approximately 235 by 2024, adding full-time, apprenticeship, and internship positions in machining, molding, assembly, and engineering.

 

Just like many businesses going through such an extensive company expansion, we have learned a few lessons along the way, including:

 

• • We visited other local peer aerospace companies to verify best practices.
• • We found out that plans take longer than projected.
• • We learned to not delay – we need to hire now for the future.
• • We need to continuously think automation and LEAN practices.
• • We created new benefits package to attract new talent.
• • We implemented key performance indicators (KPIs) measuring safety, quality, delivery, cost, and training – measure, report, share in Plastics and Metals Operations, Tool Maintenance, and Secondary Operations.
• • We immediately integrated change into our evolving culture.

 

Estimated expansion timeline

 

• • June 2019: Phase 1 of construction complete
• • Late 2019: Phase 2 of construction complete
• • Fall 2019: Inauguration of new manufacturing facility

 

Follow live expansion updates

 

We invite you to follow our construction progress on our live workzone cam at https://bit.ly/2NpvscM.

 

To discuss your plastic and metal assembly manufacturing needs, please email our General Manager Jim Lee.