TRUMPF Inc. has begun work on expanding its local manufacture and sheet metal assembly of fabricating machine tools in Farmington, Connecticut.
The North American subsidiary of the high-tech TRUMPF Group will add 55,800 square feet to its production building for the manufacture of laser cutting, bending and welding machinery. The project is part of ongoing recovery efforts related to damage sustained after a plane crashed into the production building in September of 2021. TRUMPF will invest an estimated $40 million into the project which will include a Smart Factory that demonstrates advanced automated and connected precision sheet metal production.
“North America remains the most important business market for us outside of our domestic market in Germany. We are pleased to emphasize this importance with today’s investment,” said Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, CEO of the TRUMPF Group.
“This project is an important step toward the next generation of manufacturing for TRUMPF and also for our customers across the United States,” said TRUMPF Inc. President and CEO Lutz Labisch. “Smart Factories and automated, connected manufacturing are an important part of keeping American manufacturing companies strong and competitive into the future.”
Construction on the project has begun and is expected to be completed by May of 2024. The building was designed by renowned architectural firms Barkow Leibinger and Tecton Architects. More than 620 of TRUMPF’s approximately 1,500 North American employees work in Connecticut.
"Companies like TRUMPF are essential to the future of manufacturing,” Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “This addition, and the state-of-art Smart Factory it will house in Farmington, is an excellent example of how TRUMPF and manufacturers across the United States are working to improve the next generation of production technology to stay competitive in a global market.”
The Connecticut Smart Factory project will become TRUMPF’s fourth Smart Factory worldwide and second in the United States. TRUMPF Inc. opened its first U.S. Smart Factory just outside Chicago in 2017. In the past five years, more than 8,000 manufacturers have visited the working model of connected manufacturing and TRUMPF has helped create approximately thirty other Smart Factory projects for large OEMs and smaller manufacturers across the United States. In 2022, more than 2,000 people visited TRUMPF in Connecticut for technology demonstrations or training, and more are expected to visit once the new Smart Factory is complete.
“We have seen an increasing demand for our flexible enabling technology,” said Burke Doar, TRUMPF Inc. executive vice president for sales and marketing. “Our customers tell us that they are investing in state-of-the-art, high-tech equipment to become more efficient and productive, overcome supply chain related production issues, and give available labor the freedom to focus on more creative problem- solving work. Connected manufacturing is the key to doing all of that more competitively.”
The privately held global TRUMPF Group, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, opened the North American subsidiary in 1969 and began manufacturing in Connecticut in 1974. Dedicated to meeting customer demand for proximity, TRUMPF Inc. also maintains additional offices in California, Illinois and Michigan.