TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (July 26, 2016) — Michelin North America Inc. is tripling the size of the warehouse at its Tuscaloosa tire plant, an expansion that will provide nine times the storage capacity currently available there.
Michelin has budgeted $8 million for the project, which will increase the size of the warehouse to 92,000 square feet from 29,000, the company said. Construction is scheduled to begin in August and be completed by early 2017.
The warehouse is located at the southeastern corner of the Tuscaloosa plant, one of two Michelin plants in the U.S. dedicated to producing the firm's BFGoodrich brand.
“The expansion of the storage facility will help us further improve customer service, especially geographically in key BFGoodrich tire markets,” said Greg Leikvold, plant manager. “The expansion will result in more agility and will improve our overall delivery efficiency.”
The expanded warehouse should be fully operational by the second quarter of 2017.
The plant is celebrating its 70th year of manufacturing in 2016. Employment stands at about 1,360, while capacity is listed as 15,000 passenger and light truck tires a day.