🔒Manufacturers’ expanded facilities meld capacity, tech advances

From boats to forest products to wound dressings, a number of manufacturers have facility expansions underway to meet rising demand. In a rapidly changing technological environment, manufacturers have their eyes not only on current projects but also the next generation of manufacturing challenges. “This new building allows us to take on larger, more complex projects with greater efficiency,” Samir Gupta, manager of Lyman-Morse’s advanced manufacturing division, says of construction underway at the boatbuilder and manufacturer’s midcoast Thomaston campus.

Rising demand

Earlier this year, STARC Systems, a manufacturer of reusable temporary wall systems, opened its new 107,000-square-foot manufacturing and operations facility at Brunswick Landing. “Contractors are under more pressure than ever to deliver projects faster and with less disruption,” says Chris Vickers, STARC’s president and CEO. “This facility allows us to scale production to meet that demand while continuing to build our products and our team right here in Maine.” Office employees moved into the new facility in January and the production team began operating there in February. The new facility expands STARC’s manufacturing capacity and logistics operations, enabling the company to meet rising nationwide demand for its reusable modular wall systems used on construction projects in healthcare facilities, data centers, airports, commercial buildings and other complex occupied environments Founded by contractor Tim Hebert, principal at Lewiston-based Hebert Construction, STARC sold its first product in 2014 and has grown rapidly while serving construction projects across the United States. Today the company employs 138 people and continues to expand its operations to support contractors working in some of the most demanding construction environments. The facility, developed by Priority Real Estate Group for STARC as a long-term lease tenant, includes expanded warehousing, three full shipping bays and increased manufacturing space intended to improve production efficiency.

Integrated operations

Lyman-Morse’s construction of a 15,000-square-foot facility will support large-scale composite fabrication and assembly. It joins two specialized manufacturing facilities — one providing precision computer numerical control machining operations and metal additive manufacturing, the other used to build aluminum workboats, landing crafts and emergency response vessels.

Together, the facilities create an integrated hub for advanced manufacturing, metal and composite fabrication and technology development for applications from marine systems and vessels to industrial components and specialized engineered solutions. “This expansion is about giving our team the space and infrastructure they need to execute at the highest level,” says Samir Gupta, who leads Lyman-Morse’s advanced manufacturing division. Installations in the clear-span building include a radiant-floor heat system for consistent climate control; integrated compressed air lines, vacuum pumps and information technology infrastructure to support modern tools and equipment used in composite manufacturing; two 5-ton overhead cranes; and a 150-kilowatt solar array. The $4 million project — encompassing the building and specialized equipment— is financed through Lyman-Morse and a $1,985,502 loan through the Maine Technology Asset Fund, administered by Maine Technology Institute. The project team includes Waldoboro architectural firm Chuck Campbell PLLC and Maine Coast Construction in Camden as general contractor also providing architectural services.

The plan is to move advanced composites operations to the new building in late summer. It’s expected the project will create 25 jobs and increase company revenue by 50% within five years. “We’re creating a facility that not only supports our current work but positions us for the next generation of manufacturing challenges,” Drew Lyman, the company’s president, recently said.

Expanded capacity and capability

In the western town of Oxford, Hancock Lumber held a ceremonial groundbreaking earlier this year on a 44,000-square foot manufacturing facility that will expand production of prefabricated building components. The company has been building wall panels since 1999 and roof and floor trusses since it acquired Mainely Trusses in 2018. Current wall panel production happens at the company’s Windham facility.

The Oxford expansion will increase capacity and allow for manufacture of additional components, including wall panels, up to 20 feet long, equipped with Zip System weatherproof sheathing, pre-cut and labeled framing packages and stair systems. End-to-end execution across components is expected to speed construction timelines, offering builders design packages that synchronize trusses, panels and loose materials needed to frame buildings. The project team includes Falmouth-based Penobscot General Contractors and KW Architects in Wells. The goal is to be operational by Q1 2027. Hires are expected in production, design and sales. The investment is about expanding capacity and capability, allowing Hancock Lumber to increase wall panel production tenfold, produce new framing solutions such as pre-cut and labeled framing packages, introduce advanced manufacturing technology and provide builders with more integrated solutions that help projects move faster, safer and more efficiently.

Doubling production

Irving Forest Products Inc., a subsidiary of Canadian conglomerate J.D. Irving Ltd., is planning a multimillion-dollar project to expand and modernize its sawmill in Nashville Plantation, a remote, heavily wooded area neighboring the town of Ashland in Aroostook County. Although called the Ashland sawmill, the facility is across the town line at 1218 Portage Road in Nashville Plantation. Finance Authority of Maine recently approved tax credit financing related to investments totaling approximately $42 million by five community development entities through the Maine New Markets Capital Investment Program.

The project will double the facility’s annual lumber production capacity from 130 million to 250 million board feet. The sawmill currently supports the equivalent of 140 full-time positions and will grow to the equivalent of approximately 220 full-time jobs upon completion of the project. The Ashland mill is a top employer and economic engine in Aroostook County. In 2014, Irving opened the sawmill after it invested $30 million into the facility’s rebuild, including the installation of biomass boilers, dry kilns and a planer mill to produce softwood lumber, producing over 100 million board feet per year at that time. The round wood log supply for the new sawmill is procured from the company’s Maine freehold woodlands as well as other woodlot and timberland owners in the state. By 2024, the mill had produced over one billion board feet, equivalent of providing material for approximately 80,000 homes. As a supplier to Irving Pulp & Paper, the mill also plays a role in supplying woodchips for pulp for the company’s tissue business. J.D. Irving Ltd. is headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick; its Maine district headquarters in Fort Kent. Irving has sawmill and woodland operations in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and in Maine. Across all its divisions, the company has over 20,000 full-time equivalent employees at business units in forestry and forest products, agriculture, construction and equipment, consumer products, food, retail and distribution, shipbuilding an industrial fabrication and transportation and logistics. Earlier this year, another J.D. Irving Ltd. subsidiary, Atlas Structural Systems, opened a factory in Lewiston. Atlas is one of Maine’s largest suppliers of pre-engineered trusses, prefabricated roof, wall and floor panels. Atlas has 11 production facilities in Atlantic Canada. The Lewiston facility is its first in the U.S. Occupying 44,000 square feet at 1750 Lisbon St., production started in April for the design and manufacture of engineered trusses and prefabricated wall, floor and stair panels. It’s expected the facility will employ close to 45 people.

‘Localization’ strategy

Global medical device manufacturer Mölnlycke Health Care is more than doubling its wound care manufacturing capacity at Brunswick Landing. Construction began in June on a 78,000-square-foot addition to its existing 64,000-square-foot factory. Portland-based SMRT Architects & Engineers designed the addition. Landry/French Construction is managing the project, which is part of Mölnlycke’s investment of over $135 million in Maine manufacturing. The 176-year-old company, headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, manufactures advanced medical dressings to improve patient quality of life, whether through their healing journey or by preventing pressure wounds from occurring.

It operates 16 factories in 11 countries around the world. Its two factories in Maine — in Wiscasset and Brunswick — are where it produces a majority of its wound-care products for its rapidly growing U.S. market, which generates 30% of the company’s $2.3 billion in annual sales. Wiscasset produces the critical absorbent foam material that gives dressings their fluid handling properties, which is then incorporated into finished products in Brunswick. While most devices are produced for hospitals and acute care facilities in the U.S., some of the dressings are sold at CVS and Walgreens stores. Operating at Brunswick Landing since 2013, Mölnlycke is one of the business park’s largest employers. The company employs 130 in Brunswick and expects to add 30 jobs there with the full build-out, which is expected to be operational by late 2027. Another 140 people work at its Wiscasset site. The expansion addresses increasing U.S. customer demand and is key to Mölnlycke’s localization strategy, aimed at producing products where they are sold, says Dino DeSanctis, Mölnlycke’s financial director. Plans include a white roof and a rooftop solar array, designed to help minimize heat transfer to stormwater runoff before it reaches the watershed, while generating clean, renewable energy that reduces reliance on fossil fuels. Machinery installations will include digital features that will accommodate artificial intelligence and automation capabilities as they evolve, says Nick Darak, Mölnlycke’s technical manager.

New projects

In coastal Hancock County, Brooklin Boat Yard was recently tearing down an old building and getting ready to start construction of a 7,520-square-foot facility that will enable the company to take on additional new build, restoration and service projects and to hire 10 additional employees. The company now employs 65. It’s expected the building will be completed by mid-October, says COO Nick Carter. Founded in 1960 by Joel White and now employee-owned, the yard is home to a design division, construction shops and a full-service division that provides restoration, maintenance and storage services.

The project cost is about $3 million, financed by loans through Machias Savings Bank and the Maine Technology Asset Fund. Andrew McCullough Engineering Consultants in Ellsworth provided the structural plan. J.M. Brown General Contractors in Hermon is leading the build. The new building will include a clean space for composite projects, a machine shop and a 3D printing workshop, enabling the team to apply innovative composite techniques and develop new technologies. With the additional workspace, Brooklin Boat Yard will be able to increase purchasing from Maine suppliers and vendors. The yard stores and takes care of approximately 150 boats. The new facility will provide greater efficiency for storage and service and expand capacity for specialties composite fabrication. “We’re looking toward the future,” says Carter.