CEO Klaus Mauer's choice to build his 40,000-sq.-ft. plant on a 14-acre spread in Northern Kentucky was based on several appealing attributes of the region, not the least of which was Kentucky's renowned horse tradition. Coming from a family that both owns and shows horses, Mauer was at first sentimentally enticed.
The businessman also clearly recognized the wisdom of locating his production facility near the wealth of consumer-based companies in the Greater Cincinnati area, including such giants as Procter & Gamble and L'Oreal.
A natural fit into the supply chain of this consumer goods cluster, Mauer USA's injection molding facility produces a broad range of essential closure solutions for tubes, bottles, and other sorts of packaging produced and distributed by these global companies.
As evidenced by the remarkable growth the Hebron plant has experienced since its opening in 2007, Mauer's instincts have served him well.
Capping off that success, says Vice President of Operations Jim Rivard, "has been a 500 percent increase in sales over the last twelve months."
Rivard credits much of this achievement to an increase in capacity, including an escalation in operating hours from four days to seven, the addition of four injection molding machines (for a total of 11), the doubling of employment to 23, and the addition of pharmaceutical applicators to Mauer USA's product portfolio.
Rivard also gives credit to the successful merger, in 2008, of parent company Mauer AG and similarly focused and family-owned company Kutterer Kunststofftechnik of Karlsruhe, Germany.
"The union of the expertise and customer bases of these two companies has proven to be a winning combination and has opened up many doors for us here in the U.S."
Placing their own virtual lid on the recession during what Rivard refers to as Mauer USA's "challenging and exciting year," the caps and closures maker has clearly opened itself to a promising future worldwide.
Writer: Alyce Vilines
Source: Jim Rivard, VP Operations- Mauer USA