Fisher Barton Blades Inc. plans to move its mower blade manufacturing operations to a larger facility in Watertown.
Fisher Barton Blades, a division of Waukesha-based Fisher Barton Group, is the largest global lawn mower blade manufacturer. It was located in a 50,000-square-foot at 201 Frederick St. in Watertown, and will be moving into a 90,000-square-foot facility on Airport Road in Watertown.
The new facility will allow the company to offer packaging and distribution for its OEM customers, said Jeffrey Russell, group vice president of business development.
The previous building had just one shipping dock and was landlocked, preventing expansion. The new building has five shipping docks, Russell said.
“We had just outgrown the old facility and it just wasn’t conducive to what we need to do going forward,” he said.
Fisher Barton Blades has about 65 employees in Watertown. The move has not immediately created new jobs, but the company plans to add workers going forward.
“The former Blades manufacturing plant had areas that were more than 90 years old,” said Shane Bonner, Fisher Barton Blades president. “The plant grew with the company over the years, requiring multiple additions that resulted in a disjointed floor plan and uneven floors. The facility just did not lend itself to modern manufacturing methodologies such as cellular manufacturing and in-line flow. These challenges, coupled with our OEM customers’ requests to assist with order fulfillment and distribution, motivated us to consider other locations. We were very pleased to find an existing building located in Watertown, just two miles from the former facility.”
