Hardide Coatings, provider of advanced surface coating technology, has today announced investment in a new Virginia manufacturing plant worth £4.5m. The investment will see Hardide Coatings expand provision of its range of specialist nanostructured coatings throughout North America.
Hardide coating reactor being loaded with components
The company has signed a lease on a 26,000 square foot facility in Martinsville, Henry County, which will service existing and new customers in the oil and gas, aerospace, flow control and advanced engineering markets. The facility is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2015 and to create up to 29 jobs in the first three years. The investment follows Hardide’s recent increase in capacity at its UK facility in Bicester.
The new facility is located within an Enterprise Zone in a state where more than 230 aerospace companies, the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing and two Rolls-Royce facilities are based. It will house new and bespoke chemical vapour deposition (CVD) coating reactors as well as the latest pre-treatment, inspection, quality assurance and finishing equipment.
Philip Kirkham, CEO of Hardide plc said: “Demand from customers in North America is developing well and a local production facility will significantly boost the business available to us. It will provide a strong platform for developing further business as well as the diversification of our customer base.
“Martinsville, Virginia was chosen after a long and detailed evaluation of numerous locations in different states. We chose Virginia as it offers a positive business environment with a central location for the existing and projected customer base and it makes a compelling economic and business case.”
Maurice Jones, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade said: “Hardide Coatings is a growing global company, and this significant investment to expand its manufacturing presence to serve worldwide customers is a great testament to the strong workforce and infrastructure in place in Martinsville-Henry County and the Commonwealth as a whole.”
Fit-out of the building and local recruitment is already underway. The new personnel will receive full training in the Hardide coatings’ process at the company’s Bicester headquarters before the North American facility becomes operational later this year.
The range of Hardide coatings are highly abrasion, erosion, corrosion and chemical resistant while also being tough, ductile and impact resistant. Applied by chemical vapour deposition (CVD), the process can also coat them to internal surfaces and complex shapes. The coatings technology is proven to offer dramatic improvements in component life, delivering cost savings to customers through reduced downtime and increased operational efficiency.