Nexans North America is investing $15 million to expand its Fergus operation.
On Oct. 1, Nexans officially announced the expansion of its low voltage facility in Fergus, which officials say will add capacity and enable the company to better service customers’ needs.
As part of the expansion, Nexans divested itself of its Milton distribution facility.
The Fergus expansion streamlines company logistics, thereby enhancing its capabilities, state company officials. In addition, Nexans is making significant investments in new equipment to increase its capacity in the manufacturing of low voltage residential, commercial and industrial cables.
These three core products of the Fergus facility service the Canadian, U.S. and export markets.
“This investment helps us to provide the level of service all customers expect and deserve,” said Dave Hawker, vice president and general manager of the North America energy division.
“We are focused on improving our turnaround time, order fill rate as well as the other value-added services we offer such as parallel reels, pulling eyes and custom cutting lengths. In addition, we are fortunate to have strong relationships with distributors in the North American market and as the demand for our products continues to grow, we need to invest in new equipment to have the capacity to respond to this demand.”
The expanded area will be nearly 12,263 square metres (132,000 square feet) with several upgrades to logistical technology and manufacturing processes.
“We look forward to updating the market on this important development in North America,” stated Hawker.
Jennifer Pain-Andrejin of Nexans North America explained the current Fergus facility is 260,000 square feet in size and plans are to add 132,000 square feet to the facility.
Pain-Andrejin said the equipment has already been ordered and the expansion is expected to be complete by October 2015.
Speaking briefly on the impact of the Milton operations, Pain-Andrejin explained Milton was built as a spoke hub with five factories feeding it and then shipping to customers.
“Today, the hub is no longer and we primarily feed the Milton facility from Fergus,” she said. “The cost of transportation and double handing is not adding value to the customer. With the expansion we have eliminated extra costs that were not efficient or of any value to the customer.”
As for staff, Pain-Andrejin added, “We expect to maintain all the employees in Fergus, and if through a better cost structure we can be more competitive and gain market share, then this would result in additional employees.”
Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj said, “It is so great to be able to speak about this good News. We are very pleased to have worked with Nexans on this expansion.
“We are proud of their manufacturing facility, the excellent product that they produce and the employment opportunities they bring to our community.”
In 2011, Nexans North America marked its 100th anniversary. In 1965, the Fergus facility was built as a joint venture between Canada Wire and Cable and Essex Wire.
Today, Nexans offers an extensive range of cables and cabling solutions for customers worldwide in four main business areas: power transmission and distribution (submarine and land), energy resources (oil and gas, mining and renewables), transportation (road, rail, air, sea) and building (commercial, residential and data centres).
The company boasts an industrial presence in 40 countries and commercial activities worldwide, employing close to 26,000 people and generating sales in 2013 of nearly 6.7 billion euros.
For more information visit www.nexans.ca.
