HOBART — Daifuku poured more than $35 million into expanding its Hobart factory, doubling its production capacity.
The Japanese company added 300,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space at its plant at East 61st Avenue and Interstate 65 in the NorthWind Crossings Business Park in Hobart. Already one of the city's largest employers, it hopes to hire hundreds of workers in the coming years and bring research and development over from Japan to serve the United States, its fastest-growing market.
The company celebrated the expansion at a dedication ceremony Thursday with dignitaries including U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, and Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun.
"I was here in 2017 searching for locations in Illinois, Indiana and other prospective areas. I thought this was the best location and reported back to Japan," Daifuku President and CEO Hiroshi Geshiro said via a translator. "My deepest gratitude goes to our customers from various industries, including retail, e-commerce, food, manufacturing and other distribution market. This expansion possible because of the growth experienced providing to them."
Daifuku will mark its 90th anniversary in 2027. The company was the world's largest provider of automated material handling solutions in 2023 and believes it has held onto its top spot, Geshiro said. Its core business is logistics, but it also serves industries like semiconductors and the automotive industry.
The expansion will help make the Hobart plant a hub for the development of technologies that will be used throughout the world, he said. Demand has grown for automation as more customers have looked to artificial intelligence and robotics to become more efficient.
Daifuku currently employs 440 workers in its 630,000-square-foot facility at 300 Northwind Parkway. It looks to hire 350 more to meet the growing demand for advanced automation in Northwest Indiana, Daifuku Intralogistics America Corp. President Christoph Schenk said.
"We need to hire more people," Schenk said. "We hope we can work on vocational training. We want to grow together through vocational training here locally. We appreciate that support from the local community. Thank you for making this facility the way it is. You've done tremendous work this year for getting products out of the door successfully."
The Hobart plant is now one of the largest conveyor manufacturing plants in North America.
"This represents our confidence in the market and commitment to the local community," he said. "It underscores Daifuku's belief that vertical integration and manufacturing are core competencies for our long-term profitable growth."
The facility will design and manufacture products for the North American market.
"We want to expand our product bases by bringing products that are manufactured in Japan long-term in this facility, including the design," Schenk said. "We've started the initiative to have global product development here in the Midwest. We will have Japanese engineers and teams developing new products and new systems for this market globally in North America."
The Hobart plant exports products to Canada and Mexico.
"It shows we are competitive," Schenk said. "Thank you to our employees who make us competitive. We don't need to go somewhere else. We can do it in the heart of the Midwest. We want to continue to invest in the skills of our employees. In closing, it is not necessarily about the new building. It is about affirming innovation, reliable long-term value for our clients and contributing to the community here."
Huddlestun said city officials do not always know how economic development projects would turn out, and that there is risk involved.
"We struck gold when Daifuku came to our community," he said. "Daifuku has been a great partner to us and delivered on everything they said they would do. They brought good, clean manufacturing to our community. They put us on the map globally. They're happy to be here, reinvesting and looking for ways to create the next workforce. The theme today is employee, employee, employee. That's something that we in Hobart take near to our heart: investing in members of our community. This puts us on a global stage for manufacturing and logistics and provides our citizens with the opportunities to find good working jobs."
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