BEREA, Ohio (Oct. 2, 2006) — One year after opening its new plant in Berea, Arnco Inc. said the facility is more than 25 percent ahead of projections due to increased demand for polyurethane flatproofing products.
“Equipment operators are doing everything they can to get more wear from their tires because of today's severe tire shortage, and we would not be able to meet this increased demand for flatproofing if we had not opened the Berea facility last July,” said Larry Carapellotti, Arnco president.
The company said the 112,000-sq.-ft. Berea plant—which is 18 times the size of the factory it replaced in Cleveland—has produced more than 50 million pounds of polyurethane products in the last year and is not even close to full capacity.
Joe Negrey, vice president of operations, said the new plant is operating at such a high level of efficiency that Arnco has been able to move a considerable amount of production there from its plant in Southgate, Calif., where the company is based, because shipping costs are lower from Berea.