A half-million-dollar renovation project has transfigured a closed plant in Gillett into a global distribution and engineering center.
“Business has taken off,” said Gary Langer, senior vice president and certified composition technician of Sintex-Wausaukee Composites (SWC).
Eighteen employees now work at the plant at 431 E. Main St., 18 months after the closure of the Gillett location of Wausaukee Composites, makers of fiberglass components, affected 45 workers.
With a vacant facility in Gillett, the senior management of SWC in January 2013 proposed a strategy to the Sintex board of directors to repurpose the facility as the Corporate Engineering Center of Excellence. Sintex Industries approved.
The recently completed renovation project created an engineering center, providing patterns, molds and jigs/fixtures for Wausaukee Composites headquarters in Wausaukee and another manufacturing facility in Owosso, Mich. SWC provides plastic and fiberglass components to more than 35 manufacturers globally, including Fortune 500 customers like Caterpillar, John Deere and Oshkosh Corporation.
“We are pleased with the progress we have made in the last six months and look forward to continued growth,” Langer said.
The renovation was geared to accommodate one of the largest computer numerical control (CNC) milling machines in the area. CNC machining is a process that involves the use of computers to control machine tools, such as lathes, mills, routers and grinders. SWC uses this technology to design and build patterns and molds which customers use for repetitive fiberglass production.
Employees at SWC are now machining a pattern that Cruisers Yachts in Oconto will use to make fiberglass components for their boats.
A logistics center has also been created in the building to handle the global distribution of parts received from Sintex. Product imports from India are received by truck in huge containers and are unloaded and sorted. Workers repackage parts according to specific orders, then the orders are shipped to factories in time to be placed on a production line and incorporated into a final product.
SWC also manufactures engineered fiberglass products which are shipped to local companies.
“Fiberglass is strong as or stronger than metal, but is much lighter,” Langer said.
SWC makes dog bath grooming tubs for Ultra Lift of Manawa, parts for airport seating and recycling bins for KI Bonduel, and refurbishes fiberglass foam and water tanks for airport fire trucks for FWD Seagrave of Clintonville. The original trucks were made by Oshkosh Corporation, and FWD Seagrave has a multi-year contract to upgrade these trucks.
Langer said he recently saw fire trucks with SWC foam tanks on a news broadcast covering a plane crash in California.
“It is gratifying to see our products action,” he said.
He said the Gillett plant will continue to add employees. According to Langer, the rural lifestyle and recreational opportunities in Gillett make the area appealing to employees and helps the company attract talent. The facility is close enough to Green Bay for a commute, he added.
“We are fortunate to have skilled employees in the local area,” he said.
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