Watts and its manufacturers rep agency Disney-McLane recently welcomed more than 100 plumbing contractors, engineers and wholesalers to an open house at its newest distribution center in Groveport, Ohio, near Columbus.

The 229,000-sq.-ft. facility, which opened for business last year, will ship more than 9,000 Watts products to supply houses, retailers and manufacturers reps in the central United States. Working in two shifts, 80 employees handle shipping and receiving, inventory management and office responsibilities.

The Ohio facility is the largest of the company’s three U.S. distribution centers. The others are located near Boston and in Sparks, Nev.

“We believe the Groveport location is ideal for our newest distribution center,” said Patrick Bian, Watts’ director of supply-chain management. “We can take advantage of the region’s ultra-modern interstate highway system. In addition, it is outside the Snow Belt and the Tornado Zone, minimizing the risk of transportation slowdowns that weather conditions can cause. Together those advantages enhance our ability to ship efficiently to more locations and provide customers the products they need, when they need them.”

The open house featured tours of the facility, which is equipped with a warehouse management system, scanning technologies and material-handling equipment. The center is designed to optimize distribution of Watts’ extensive line of plumbing products for residential, commercial and industrial markets.

Tours were followed by a barbecue, where visitors had a chance to socialize and learn firsthand how Watts and Disney-McLane support their customers with a wide range of plumbing and heating solutions, training, local inventory and field support.

 “We appreciated the opportunity to share some time with our customers and demonstrate the exceptional support we can provide them,” said Craig Cumberledge, principal at Disney-McLane. “A tour of the Watts Distribution Center in Groveport showed them the equipment and capabilities that enable us to ensure prompt delivery.”

This article was originally titled “Expanding capacity” in the November 2017 print edition of Supply House Times.