ORBIS breaks ground to expand its manufacturing plant in Urbana, Ohio

ORBIS Corporation, an international leader in reusable packaging, has broken ground on an expansion of its manufacturing facility located in Urbana, Ohio. This new facility will expand an already existing ORBIS plant, located at 200 Elm St, adding 30% more space for the manufacture of totes, bulk containers and pallets. This will add more presses and tools to increase capacity and shorten lead times. Coupled with its favorable geographic location for freight optimization, the Urbana plant expansion will help ORBIS better serve its customers.

“This is a very exciting expansion for ORBIS as it will not only provide more manufacturing flexibility to improve throughput and reduce lead times for our customers, but it will also bring new learning opportunities and technology to our current and future Urbana plant associates,” said Bill Ash, president at ORBIS Corporation. “For decades, we have been part of the Urbana business community and we look forward to this new chapter, with enhanced capabilities and state-of the-art equipment.”

ORBIS, part of Menasha Corporation with headquarters in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, operates 13 manufacturing plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Employing more than 300 employees at the current Urbana plant, ORBIS plans to add an additional 40-50 jobs over the next three years. These additions will bring ORBIS’ overall head count to more than 3,150 throughout North America and Europe.

“This expansion would not be possible without the support of our employees, the Teamsters union and the Urbana community,” said Todd Mathes, EVP of manufacturing at ORBIS. “We look forward to enhancing our Urbana operations, including building upgrades and training programs for our employees as well as new and expanding technologies for the ORBIS business.”

This expansion will increase the company’s overall molding capacity by 10% and has a targeted completion in Q2 of 2023. Reusable packaging products produced at the plant are used in many industries, including automotive, food, beverage and consumer packaged goods.

“The city of Urbana and the Champaign Economic Partnership welcome this expansion by ORBIS Corporation and its commitment to bringing more jobs to our community,” said Rich Ebert, director of the Champaign Economic Partnership. “This expansion project by ORBIS Corporation coincides with many years of persistence by the city of Urbana; the Champaign Economic Partnership; and numerous local, regional and state partners to redevelop the former Q3 JMC Inc. site. These redevelopment efforts have been underway since 2010 and concluded earlier this summer with the remaining parcels from that site being sold by the city to ORBIS Corporation in support of this planned expansion.”

“As a community, we are excited that ORBIS Corporation has chosen the Urbana plant as the site for this expansion project, and we appreciate the company’s partnership in bringing economic viability back to the former Q3 JMC Inc. site,” said Doug Crabill, city of Urbana community development manager.

With reusable packaging at the core of its business, this larger plant also will deliver other environmental benefits, including water neutrality, increased energy efficiency and superior processing ability for recycled materials.

Ebert and Crabill added, “This expansion project will support ORBIS’ continued decadeslong growth in Urbana.  Furthermore, ORBIS’ continued emphasis on providing reusable packaging solutions for today’s sustainable supply chains is admirable, and we look forward to continuing to see them thrive as a leader in our area.”

Most construction activities are being provided by local Ohio contractors. ORBIS also is partnering with a local developer to construct an all-new off-site warehouse in Urbana, in conjunction with this plant expansion.