Construction is well underway on a new $100 million plant and offices in New Berlin for global manufacturer ABB Inc.
With the exterior structure already erected, ABB will mark a milestone on the construction progress Tuesday. Company executives and the general contractor Briohn Building Corp. of Brookfield are hosting a “floor pour celebration” inside the 275,000-square-foot structure at 18200 W. Lincoln Ave.
The new facility is scheduled to open in fall 2024, said Kelly Kling, vice president of finance for ABB’s drives unit in New Berlin. She said the project is an example of corporate parent ABB Ltd.’s commitment the past decade to invest heavily in its American manufacturing capabilities.
“Globally, this has the eyes of ABB,” said Kling, who is the project-site leader for ABB. “This is a big investment.”
ABB said Tuesday the New Berlin project is an example of the company accelerating its growth strategy in the United States by investing approximately $170 million and creating highly skilled jobs in manufacturing, innovation and distribution operations.
The company’s existing New Berlin plant at 16250 W. Glendale Drive always has been profitable and strong, but the site lacked ample room for future growth, Kling said. ABB will sell its existing New Berlin plant after the new one opens, she said.
The new facility will house plant operations and feature new automation technology and a customer experience center as well as adding office employees who now work in Wauwatosa, she said.
The company will exit the Wauwatosa offices at Innovation Campus when the lease expires in May 2024, Kling said.
The new plant is connected to a new 310,000-square-foot warehouse to the south, which ABB will lease from developer Dickman Co. of Milwaukee. The warehouse is scheduled to open this year, Kling said.
The adjoining plant and warehouse will represent an improvement from ABB’s current arrangement in which the existing plant is 17 miles from a warehouse in Waukesha, Kling said.
A third-party logistics firm will run the new warehouse and Kling said the identity of the firm is to be announced.
ABB said Tuesday the project will increase U.S. production capacity of industrial electric drives and provide additional customer services. The company said the new facility will add 100 jobs over the next three years.
The New Berlin drives business has experienced double-digit percentage growth in recent years with significant increases the past two years, Kling said. She said the growth results from increased demand for ABB's electrification and automation products and ABB’s current strategy of localizing production in the U.S. rather than shipping supplies from overseas plants to facilities in the United States.
ABB executives scheduled to attend Tuesday’s ceremony are: Tuomo Hoysniemi, president of global drives products; Michael Basler, system drives division manager for the United States; Petri Sullstrom, drives products division manager for the U.S.; Rob Snyder, the motion services division manager for the U.S.; and Lori Tocco, the site human resources business partner.
ABB proposed the project in September 2021. The company anticipates about 700 employees working at the new site, Kling said.
Parent company ABB Ltd. is based in Zurich, Switzerland.