Conveyors And Line Work

Candle factory brings manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.

Conveyor belts are raring to go at the Glen Burnie factory of Pacific Trade International, the Rockville company behind Chesapeake Bay Candle. Opening this Tuesday, the 117,200-square-foot plant is the company’s first in the United States, after 16 years of manufacturing all of its products in Asia .

The move toward domestic production comes as the cost advantages of manufacturing in Asia are waning, and Chesapeake Bay Candle’s distribution channels in the United States continue to grow.

The line of brilliantly colored, scented candles can be found on the shelves at some of the largest stores, including Target, Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s. Sales topped $84 million in 2010 and new orders are flowing. The Glen Burnie factory is designed to help shorten turnaround on those orders.

Getting the plant up and running, however, has been a test of will for the company’s founders, David Wang and Mei Xu . The husband-and-wife team faced regulatory roadblocks at every turn, making them question the government’s commitment to revitalizing manufacturing.

“The government talks about wanting business to come back from Asia, but they have nothing in place to guide businesses through the endless regulations,”Mei said.

Converting a former liquor warehouse into an automated manufacturing and distribution plant proved far more challenging than Mei anticipated. When she and her husband leased the space in March, they figured it would take six months to renovate at a cost of $2.5 million based on other factories they, and their local contractors, had opened.

That didn’t quite pan out.

Officials objected to the site plan for not meeting building codes. Bob Hannon, chief executive of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corp., said the county worked with Chesapeake Bay Candle from the outset of the project, but it was clear the company wasn’t fully aware of what the renovation would entail. Xu conceded that the building required far more work than expected, but maintains the county should offer a “concierge service” to guide businesses through the process.

“Time is money. And when it takes an inordinate amount of time to get a permit or something reviewed, it becomes expensive and prohibitive,” said Mike Galiazzo, president of the Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland, a trade association. “If Maryland received more support from public policymakers, the success we have now would be accelerated.

Design News - News - Bosch-Rexroth Readies New Conveyors, Targets ...

Bosch Rexroth is gearing up for several new conveyor introductions at National Manufacturing Week later this month in Chicago. They include units that will carry heavier loads and ones which will handle solar panels.

The solar push springs from the growth in that industry, according to Kevin Gingerich, director of marketing services for B-R's Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies.

"The solar industry does not know what it needs and is growing at 40 percent a year," says Gingerich. "They are getting to the point where they need to automate. There are no standards. We want to polish up this technology and create a standard."

The new conveyor breaks from tradition because the solar panel itself is the work piece carrier. "A typical assembly line has a [separate] work piece carrier. You can stop it, turn it and lift it," says Gingerich. "In this case, the solar panel is the transport medium."

B-R will also add two new heavy-weight conveyors to its TS or Transfer System line . The TS5 will carry up to 660 lbs and the TS6 will carry up to 1,000 lbs when it comes out next year. The TS6 will be a static display at NMW while the TS5 will be operating, according to Gingerich.

Until now, B-R's conveyors carried between 200-300 lbs, Gingerich says. "They are used for Bosch kinds of things such as a fuel injection system." Now they will be able to handle heavier subassemblies such as an auto transmission.

Gingerich says B-R has also signed an agreement to sell clean room conveyors from Middlesex Industries .