Exacto Inc. has more than doubled its space by moving from Richmond, Ill. to a 50,000-square-foot plant in Sharon, in Walworth County.
Exacto Inc. has more than doubled its space by moving to a 50,000-square-foot plant in Sharon, in Walworth County, from its original location 20 miles southeast in Richmond, Ill.
The building is the former Automated Building Components (ABC) truss manufacturing plant at 200 Old Factory Road. Exacto purchased the building earlier this year from Lyman Lumber Company for $1.55 million. Dave Hazenfield of The Dickman Company represented Lyman Lumber and Mark Stricker represented Exacto in brokering the property sale.
Exacto said the move will help it significantly increase its capacity to develop, manufacture and distribute adjuvant products that enhance chemicals used for crop protection, pest control and vegetation management.
The custom-designed space will help the company accommodate lean manufacturing and quality control.
Exacto’s adjuvants and surfactants are sold by other companies under private labels.
“Exacto continues to be blessed by the confidence and support of our many customers, suppliers and employees, and I am pleased to announce this progressive step for our company,” said Diana Braun, Exacto’s president.
Exacto has seen steady growth since it was founded in 1981 when it initially focused on formulas that enhance drift reduction properties of crop protection products.
“We have added product lines, packaging capabilities, storage and blending capacities,” Braun said. “As we have expanded, we have run into efficiency issues at Richmond. We have outgrown that facility, which we built and operated from for the last 17 years.”
The building gives Exacto twice the docking capacity of its former site. In addition, the Sharon facility has railroad service, which opens the door to improved efficiency for the purchase and sale of commodity materials, Braun said. Additional benefits include an onsite truck scale and significantly greater electrical service.
Along with the efficiency gains from the interior layout, the company expects to benefit from more than 30 acres of land around the building. Plans call for adding a greenhouse and for planting crops on some of the acreage. Those enhancements would give the company greater research capabilities, said Frank Sexton, technical services manager for Exacto.
