Texas celebrates arrival of NORD production facility with ribbon-cutting and open house

NORD DRIVESYSTEMS recently celebrated the grand opening of their new, state-of-the-art production facility in McKinney, Texas. With established facilities in Corona, California, Charlotte, North Carolina, and the 291,700 ft² U.S. corporate headquarters in Waunakee, Wisconsin, this new factory marks the global gear motor and control product manufacturer’s fourth U.S. production location. The new plant will enable NORD to offer support in the southern region with localized pre-sales, inventory, assembly, and aftermarket services, in addition to being a fourth hub for the company, enabling expanded country-wide services.

Employees and their families, local dignitaries, customers, and NORD global management were some of the many guests who attended the McKinney ribbon cutting.

The McKinney facility, situated in the northeast suburbs of Dallas, covers 85,000 ft² with space allocated for assembly, service, and offices. The location is staffed with production, warehouse, quality, service, customer experience, and administrative personnel and began producing unpainted gear units in June of 2023 after Phase 1 construction was completed. Phase 2 included the addition of five assembly cells, bringing the total to 10, and the build-out of the front office area that houses leadership offices, a conference room, a training room, a break room, and locker facilities. Most recently, Phase 3 was completed, adding a full-service paint system that enables gear units to be painted with several surface treatments on-site. Once the facility is at full operational capacity it will produce up to 200 units per shift.

NORD receives a Congressional letter of congratulations from Michelle Bishop, District Director for Congressman Keith Self, 3rd District of Texas.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Tuesday, May 21, with guests from around the world including Ullrich Küchenmeister, managing partner, and Gernot Zarp, managing director of Sales and Domestic Sales at Getriebebau-NORD GmbH & Co, NORD’s global corporate headquarters in Bargteheide, Germany. Representatives from the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) and Affiliated Distributors (AD) also joined in the celebration. Michelle Bishop, district director for Congressman Keith Self, 3rd District of Texas, presented a Congressional letter of congratulations officially welcoming NORD to the Lone Star State and the McKinney Chamber of Commerce welcomed them to the city. Following the ceremony, Mr. Küchenmeister kicked off the festivities by raising a toast to commemorate the grand opening and the plant’s future success. Food, drink, and guided tours were then provided to showcase the technology used within the facility. Keeping with the Texas theme, guests were given a themed gift bag with a NORD-branded grill kit, authentic Texas barbeque sauce, and more.

Rich Heineman,Texas Operations Manager, gives a guided tour of the McKinney facility, allowing guests to explore and learn about NORD’s new capabilities.

In addition to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, NORD hosted a customer open house on Wednesday, May 22. Guided plant tours were provided by Rich Heineman, Texas operations manager, and Mike McConville, Texas assembly supervisor, to highlight the facility’s features and answer questions about NORD’s expanded capabilities. Lunch was catered by Hutchins BBQ, home of The Ultimate BBQ Experience, giving guests a taste of real Texas BBQ as they explored and learned about the McKinney factory.

“We look forward to building strong relationships within the McKinney community and the city has welcomed us with open arms,” said Torsten Schultz, president of NORD USA, “This milestone will help us maintain our customer promise and continue to offer very short lead times on our standard configured products, as well as exceptional customer service.”

With the latest manufacturing technology incorporated into every aspect of the McKinney facility, NORD plans to capitalize on the added capacity, deliver reliable, highly efficient products, and continue providing the highest service levels to their customers.