Putzmeister America Inc. is riding a three-year growth spurt. The company recently completed the fifth expansion of its Sturtevant production facility and headquarters, at 1733 90th St., since it moved there from California in 1993.
Putzmeister America is the North American division of Putzmeister GM, based in Germany. The privately held company manufactures equipment to move concrete at job sites, including several different types of pumps, booms and conveyors.
Most of Putzmeister’s pumps and booms are mounted on trucks or trailers. Other larger models are attached to building frames during construction, helping pour new floors of high-rise buildings as they are constructed.
The first phase of the company’s latest expansion in Sturtevant added about 8,000 square feet to its receiving and warehouse area, as well as more than 4,500 square feet of office space.
The second phase of the expansion created another 20,000 square feet of production space, said Jonathan Omer, marketing manager for Putzmeister America.
Putzmeister America’s footprint, with the additions, is now about 193,000 square feet, sitting on a 34.5-acre site. The company has some room left on the Sturtevant property for one more small expansion.
The additions were needed because of the continued sales growth Putzmeister America has experienced this year – an 18- to 20-percent growth in sales over 2005.
“2005 was a record year for Putzmeister in the U.S.,” Omer said. “And 2006 will surpass it. We now have the lion’s share of the market in the U.S., and we are a major player in the world.”
The company’s employment has grown from 300 in 2004 to 471 this year.
Putzmeister is relocating its Pro-Tech division, which refurbishes, re-equips and sells older equipment that Putzmeister takes in on trades, into its Sturtevant facility. Pro-Tech has been leasing space at 445 W. Oklahoma Ave. in Milwaukee.
Earlier this year, Putzmeister purchased three homes south of its Sturtevant facility. One of the homes has been demolished – the company is building a new parking lot there for its employees. Another of the homes is being used to house Putzmeister’s interns, which come to Sturtevant from Germany. The former homeowner is living in the third home, Omer said.
Growth in the residential housing market in the U.S. helped drive Putzmeister’s increases, Omer said. Even though that market has cooled off, an increase in high-rise construction has given the company additional increases this year.
Putzmeister’s boom pumps and other concrete-moving machines are now in use on several of New York developer Donald Trump’s projects in Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami. They also are being used to construct what will be the world’s tallest building – the Burj Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Omer said.
“(When it’s built) Putzmeister will hold the world record for the longest distance (concrete has been) pumped,” he said.
Putzmeister is expecting some additional growth in 2007, but not nearly what it has experienced in the last few years.
“The (growth from) the last two years has been ridiculous,” Omer said. “No one can sustain that. We may even see (volumes) drop a little bit.”
