REHAU recently celebrated the grand opening of Plant Celaya 3, an expansive, modern facility capable of securing the company’s position as the leading North American edgeband supplier for decades. The new plant is located in central Mexico, next to the company’s two existing plants in the municipality of Apaseo el Grande, Gto. With an investment of $25 million US dollars, the plant adds 172,000 sq. ft. (16,000 sq. m.) of manufacturing and warehouse space and is projected to create 300 new jobs when it reaches full production during 2024.

Guests attending the ceremony included: Diego Sinhue, governor of the State of Guanajuato; Jose Luis Oliveros Usabiaga, mayor of Apaseo el Grande; the regional executive board of REHAU Americas and furniture manufacturers from Canada, Mexico and the United States. Company executives speaking at the ceremony including REHAU Group President Dr. Veit Wagner and Americas CEO Dr. Thomas Troeger highlighted the significance of this expansion for the woodworking industry of North America and the communities surrounding Celaya.

Edgeband is a narrow strip of polymer material that is printed and finished to match the woodworking industry’s leading HPL and melamine brands. The range of materials, profile widths and thicknesses, colors and decorative finishes leads to a complex manufacturing process with more than 10,000 SKUs.

“REHAU is known throughout the woodworking industry for our superior ability to produce edgeband that perfectly matches the surface laminate,” said Dr. Thomas Troeger, CEO of REHAU Americas. “This proprietary technology is labor-intensive and requires significant skill. Once again, we turn to central Mexico to find the exceptional skilled labor force we need to support our customers as they grow their businesses.” 

“Edgeband production is one of our most complex processes,” said Steven John, director of Plant Celaya 3 who transferred from Canada to continue leading the company’s edgeband manufacturing processes. “As a result, international team spirit was essential to succeeding with the plant opening we celebrate today. Colleagues from Brazil, from Germany, from Spain, and especially from Canada spent weeks, even months here, working shoulder-to-shoulder with our Mexico team. Our extensive global edgeband manufacturing experience, continually refined since the 1970s, now resides in Celaya.”

“We are proud to bring more jobs to the municipalities of Celaya, Apaseo el Alto and Apaseo el Grande,” said Dr. Veit Wagner, president of the REHAU Group. “With this expansion, we will have almost 1,000 employees in Mexico, most of them on this campus, making Mexico the second largest country in terms of staff within our subgroup REHAU Industries.”

Supporting the success of the new plant is a robust supply chain, including dedicated REHAU trucks that will run daily between Celaya and the company’s new Dallas warehouse, and a more integrated, Americas-wide supply chain management (SCM) team.

The day-long celebration last Friday was multifaceted, complete with the official opening and plant tours followed by a reception featuring traditional Mexican food and folk music. In welcoming the 1,200 guests and employees to the reception, Gaspar Sierra, REHAU Celaya site director and manager of Plant Celaya 1, said, “We have a lot to celebrate: The opening of Plant Celaya 3, the 30th anniversary of REHAU Mexico and Central America and the 75th anniversary of the founding of REHAU by Mr. Helmut Wagner.”