West Bend plant layout proves better for Reigle Ware
Corporate offices staying in Kewaskum
By Charles Rathmann, SBT Reporter
Conventional wisdom would suggest it is better to keep a company’s facilities in the same campus. Split departments by even a few blocks, and communication and efficiency can suffer.
But to Regal Ware Inc. president Jeff Reigle, the conventional wisdom did not stand a chance in the face of other factors that arose during a three-month due diligence process resulting from his purchase of one of two West Bend Co. plants from ITW Inc.
So, Reigle decided to consolidate the company’s office operations in Kewaskum and its manufacturing operations in West Bend.
A key factor in the decision to split the company between the two cities was the layout of the plant in Kewaskum.
"They are almost identical in size, as far as floor space goes," Reigle said of the two facilities. "But the Schmidt Road Plant — the former West Bend factory — is a much newer building than the building in Kewaskum. The layout is far more conducive to manufacturing operations. They have the high ceilings we need, whereas the Kewaskum facility is broken up into multiple additions with various ceiling heights."
However, moving both the offices and the manufacturing operations to West Bend was not an option, according to Reigle.
"We have sufficient room here (in Kewaskum) to move everybody in. In West Bend, it is built-out space in the factory, and there isn’t enough room," Reigle said. "Besides, in Kewaskum, we have a building that is specifically designed as an office building, with all the conduit and wiring. In West Bend, anything we do would be lacking that."
The office space in the plant in West Bend will continue to be used for manufacturing-related purposes, including production supervision and engineering, according to Reigle.
Both facilities will share the same computer network infrastructure and telephone system.
The decision as to where to move was made Feb. 5 and announced the following day, according to Reigle. But the analysis that led to the decision started on the day of purchase.
"There was extensive financial modeling and various reports," Reigle said. "Financially, it made more sense to locate at Schmidt Road. We have to move equipment from one factory to the other, but we will move less equipment from Kewaskum to West Bend than we would have to from West Bend to Kewaskum. It is less expensive when you move less equipment. But the business disruption is less when you move to Schmidt Road as well."
At the Schmidt Road facility, some manufacturing work on West Bend consumer products is continuing, according to Reigle. However, manufacturing work on the last of those lines will be transitioned to plants in Asia within weeks.
"The moves are probably going to start in April," Reigle said. "It is our intent to have everything moved within one year – hopefully faster. We have already identified the order we want to do it in. … We plan to start with something that is relatively easy to move – and that is our coffee urn production facility. That will be followed by the cookware lines."
Feb. 21, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
