Link Mfg. has officially opened two new facilities, a 50,000-sq.-ft., manufacturing and training facility is located on the company’s Sioux Center, Iowa, campus, and a new Suspension Controls Engineering Center is located in Grand Rapids, Mich. Both locations will help Link accommodate its recent growth in staffing, manufacturing capabilities, engineering, software development and sales, the company says.
“The new Sioux Center and Grand Rapids facilities reflect the growth and momentum Link has continued to enjoy leading up to and following its recent suspension controls product line acquisition,” says Jim Huls, president, Link Manufacturing. “Link’s strategic focus on suspension, suspension controls and specialty products helped drive our expansion initiatives, and these new spaces will enable us to comfortably manage the positive impact as we continue our 42-year evolution.”
Link’s new plant in Sioux Center is now the manufacturing core for all of the company’s mechanical and electronic air management products, including its SmartValve Electronic Height Control Systems and Smart Air Management Systems (SAMS) dynamic air suspension control technology. Denoted Plant 4, Link says targeted sectors of the building are temperature controlled, which is critical for the precision manufacturing and assembly of many of the air management system’s sensitive valve and electronic components.
The light manufacturing space also offers Link the broad flexibility of being able to configure new manufacturing cells for other products as the need arises. The new Plant 4 will also serve as Link’s new consolidated shipping and receiving hub, continuing to leverage Iowa’s location near the geographic center of the country and thus major transportation corridors, the company says.
“Our new ‘Synergy Team Room’ is also located in Plant 4 and will be used for large company gatherings, corporate events, for continuing education and for new employee onboarding,” Huls says. “And we’ve been doing a lot more onboarding lately, with the addition of 50 new local staff in association with and in anticipation of the Sioux Center Plant 4 opening.”
Link says its Michigan-based Suspension Controls Engineering Center will help the company's developing suspension control technologies operation.
Link’s new 15,000 sq-.ft., Grand Rapids-based Suspension Controls Engineering Center will help focus a new segment of Link’s product engineering team specifically engaged in developing and expanding Link’s growing suspension control technologies. Expert staff at the new location will also be engaged in the integration of the company’s SmartValve and SAMS air management systems with Link’s Road Optimized Innovations (ROI) technology.
