Ten years since beginning operations and after two years of planning, Somic Packaging, Inc. has a new home. The Twin Cities-area packaging manufacturer of automated, mechatronic retail-ready machines recently completed the purchase and renovation of a 48,000 square-foot building at the InverPoint Business Park in Inver Grove Heights, MN.
Somic Packaging has experienced growth since moving from the Chicago area to nearby Eagan in January 2018. The subsidiary of Amerang, Germany-based Somic had tripled its space to 13,000 square feet at the time, and has since gained significant traction in the marketplace with customers representing many industries throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Today, hundreds of end-of-line packaging machines are in operation at cheese, dairy, confectionary, meat processing, snack food, petfood, and other manufacturing facilities. CEO Peter Fox says in addition to now having the ability to assemble all new North American machines and with room for future growth, the move retains accessibility to several major highways and close proximity to nearby Minneapolis International Airport.
“It was a collective group effort to get to this point and complete our moving process last week. We spent many hours in the past two years, from looking at possible sites and buildings to designing everything inside and examining our needs for the future,” says Fox.
Pointing to various spots in the building, he acknowledges Somic's facility in Germany influenced some of the design choices that were implemented after the company took ownership of the building earlier this year. Besides the manufacturing floor and larger inventory area for the warehousing of critical parts and consumables, the building includes over 10,000 square-feet of administrative space and 8,000 more square-feet on the second floor for future office requirements.
“We added quite a bit of natural light and I’m really impressed with our commissioning hall space, where the assembly and customer Factory Acceptance Tests are performed on all the machines,” explains Fox, who said a grand opening event is being planned for 2025.
“Our customer base is growing and so are we. That’s why we committed resources to hiring additional staff in every department. From the assembly line, parts, and service, to sales support and HR, we are moving forward with a larger team to better serve current and future customers. We have 42 employees in a building which can accommodate twice that amount, and we are looking to hire 10 more people after PACK Expo ends," he finishes.
Many of the new machines Somic plans to assemble will be the 434 next generation case packing system. This high quality and versatile modular machine is based on fixed function groups consisting of proven, tested, and standardized mechatronic systems.
Designed to handle up to 34 cases per minute during a single cycle, format adjustments are 70% faster than previous systems. The 434 model being demonstrated in booth N-6148 at PACK EXPO in Chicago from November 3-6, offers several enhancements. It includes new frame construction for improved ergonomics, noise reducing features, and a QuickChange adjustment system for faster and easier format changeovers.
