Graham Engineering Corporation expands extrusion manufacturing capacity, combines Rhode Island operations into Pennsylvania facility

October 9, 2015

26,000sf operations in Ashaway, Rhode Island to be integrated into expanded, improved 150,000sf facility in York, Pennsylvania to accommodate ongoing growth, ensure lead times

Graham Engineering Corporation today announced its plan to relocate its Ashaway, Rhode Island operations and American Kuhne brand into its York, Pennsylvania location.

‘Continued growth in our extrusion business prompted this decision, a logical next step,’ explained David Schroeder, CEO. ‘We are simply outgrowing the Ashaway facility, which houses our extruder assembly.’

‘Capacity constraints in our Ashaway extruder center of excellence have the potential to impact future lead times, one of our competitive advantages,’ said Dan Schilke, general manager of the Ashaway facility. ‘Expanding our manufacturing footprint enables us to remain nimble and responsive to our customers.’

The company improved and expanded its York facility 35% in 2013 while integrating its Welex sheet line assembly operations from Greenville, North Carolina. It continues to make capital investment and improvements to accommodate ongoing growth.

The York manufacturing facility, 55 years in its evolution, is recognized for an international standard of excellence in manufacturing, comprising a product development and testing laboratory, test and development lines, and large machinery handling capability. 

‘Together, we are a convergence of leading technologies, people, and capabilities in extrusion,’ stated Bob Deitrick, vice president of global sales. ‘This move enables an even greater level of knowledge sharing, cooperation, and cross-functional collaboration under one roof, benefiting our customers not only in time to market, but also with enhanced custom design, testing, training, and run-off capabilities. In this way we will continue to keep our promise to our customers by providing the quality, products, and service that they know and trust.’

The integration will proceed into 2016 in a coordinated, structured move to ensure all customer commitments are met. The company will maintain a satellite near the present Ashaway location and many Ashaway employees will have the opportunity to relocate to York.

The Graham Group acquired majority interest in American Kuhne in 2012, followed by Graham Engineering Corporation’s acquisition of Welex in June 2013. Together, Graham Engineering, American Kuhne, and Welex create a convergence of leading technologies, people, and capabilities in extrusion. Graham is a privately held company headquartered in York, Pennsylvania, USA. 

Graham Engineering is the global standard in wheel and industrial extrusion blow molding solutions, with 400 installations in 20 countries. Graham Engineering offers package design, product development and processing expertise, along with monolayer, multilayer, and barrier extrusion blow molding equipment and technology upgrades. Visit www.grahamengineering.com. 

American Kuhne is the preferred provider of engineered solutions for plastics, rubber, and silicone extrusion. American Kuhne solutions comprise standard and custom single screw extruders, feed screws, extrusion systems, and specialized turnkey systems for laboratory, medical tubing, narrow web, wire and cable, pipe, tubing, and profile applications. Visit www.americankuhne.com. 

Welex is the global standard in high performance sheet extrusion solutions, with over four decades of leadership. Welex solutions are installed in more than 3,000 customer locations in 69 countries. The company’s innovations include co-extrusion and multi-layer methods that lead the industry as well as dozens of barrier lines installed globally. Visit www.welex.