K2 Building Doubles Keltech’s Welding Capacity

Keltech, specialists in the manufacture of Tanks, Acoustic Enclosures, Overhead Guards and Cabins have announced the opening of an additional new 30,000 square feet fabrication facility bringing the total size of their Waterford city plant to 150,000 square feet.

The almost €1 million investment on plant and fit out has been made in response to growing demand for Keltech’s niche products. Keltech, with a distinguished reputation for service, innovation, and market leadership supplies blue chip OEM clients in Ireland, the UK, Europe and the USA.

The investment will benefit current Keltech customers whilst also allowing the business scale further into new markets explains Keltech Founder and CEO Ray Breen. “When the opportunity came about 12 months ago to purchase the 60,000 square feet of land and buildings adjoining our current 90,000 square feet manufacturing plant it was an opportunity too good to pass on.” The company has experienced positive growth in recent times “In 2014 we employed 70 people, today we employee 250 people and growing” says Ray.

The newly christened K2 building is situated on the East side of the current Keltech facility. The building originally designed as office space has undergone a radical transformation over the last 6 months explains Declan Walsh, Keltech Chief Operating Officer. “When the project was given the green light back in February the main aim was to double our welding capacity. The existing factory has more than ample cutting, folding, painting and final assembly capacity but with recent growth welding was about to become a bottle neck due to space restrictions in that area of the main plant. With K2 now operational, our factory in Waterford is capable of achieving sales per year in excess of €40 million”

Every element of K2 has been overhauled to promote Welding Excellence. The building has been kitted out with ergonomically designed workstations, some of which are product specific and others which are customer specific. State of the art welding plants, extraction and lifting gear aid Keltech welders to achieve optimal performance and output. A 50m x 6m gantry crane will allow parts seamlessly transition from welding stations to pre-paint preparation areas.

K2 provides additional office space with members of the production, engineering and supply chain teams moving to the new building. The new facility has created space in the main building, plans to update the existing welding area of the original plant again with the focus on Welding Excellence are already in place. New office space in the main building will now become the heart of our Innovation & Training centre where Keltech will continue to invest in our customer focused approach.

New KWrap Paint Plant

The commissioning of the K2 building is only the first part of what is proving to be a transformational year for Keltech. Work is due to start this month on the new “KWrap” paint plant; a Dual Coat Powder Paint system. The new system will offer clients the option of chemical pre-treatment and then 1 layer of powder paint or alternatively chemical pre-treatment followed by a powder primer layer and then a second layer of top coat powder paint.

The dual coat powder paint plant project is well underway as Ray explains. “We have gone through several iterations of what the paint plant will actually look like when completed and have recently locked down on the final design. Building work will commence in late September with a targeted completion date of February 2020.”

The investment is a further commitment by Keltech to their enviable customer base as it offers a best in class paint finish says Seamus Lawlor, Business Development Manager. “Not only will the dual coat paint plant offer our clients a superior aesthetic finish but also the field performance of our paint will be industry leading. The system will create an excellent wrap protection around part edges an area long known to be problematic when it comes to paint performance. We named the project “KWrap” when in the design phase and it has stuck ever since, hence the name!”

Enjoyed reading this post or want to find out more? Contact me on seamus.lawlor@keltech.ie or 00353864681333

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