By Nancy Glasscock
REHAU announced the grand opening of its second manufacturing plant in Cullman Thursday — an addition company representatives said will create up to 100 more jobs during the next four years.
Located adjacent to the company’s existing automotive production plant, the new 200,000 square-foot facility more than doubles capacity for the production of cross-linked polythylene piping, company officials said.
Veit Wagner, vice president of the REHAU Supervisory Board, said the expansion is a milestone for REHAU and for Cullman. After years of imports, the company’s North American heating and plumbing pipe demand has drastically increased, justifying an investment in local production, Wagner said.
“REHAU has three strategic business units, automotive, construction and industry,” he said. “It is our philosophy to have a balanced product portfolio in all regions worldwide. REHAU North America being one of these eight regions, has in the past relied strongly on the automotive sector. This dependency has been reduced in recent years with above average growth of our heating and plumbing business, which is part of the strategic business unit construction.”
Wagner said the new facility will support the company’s ambitious North American growth plan and increase customer service with improved logistics.
To accommodate the increase in production, REHAU has invested more than $20 million in construction and equipment for the new facility, which provides space for PEX production, warehousing and shipping, according to company officials.
“With the start-up of the new lines, Plant Cullman Construction will be able to keep up with growing demand and produce nearly all of REHAU’s North American PEX requirement,” said Kathleen Saylor, the company’s North America chief executive officer.
“Expanding our facilities in Cullman, Ala., represents REHAU’s ongoing commitment to this community, a commitment that began more than 10 years ago when we chose it as our production hub to service the growing number of southern U.S. automotive manufacturing plants,” Saylor said.
Cullman Mayor Don Green said the partnership between REHAU and Cullman has been “great.” The 60,000 square foot company employs 500, and has made a capital investment of $120 million, he said.
“We’re pleased that Cullman is the community you chose,” Green said. “REHAU helped put Cullman on the automotive map. Having a quality international company like REHAU in Cullman has helped recruit other domestic and international automotive and non-automotive industry.”
Green said REHAU is involved in the community, and participates in local events like Relay for Life, United Way, schools and Parks and recreation.
