In 2005, Phoenix Contact, a German maker of industrial electrical and electronic technology products, established a development and manufacturing (D&M) subsidiary in Swatara Township near Harrisburg. The facility was intended to meet the needs of customers in North and South America by designing new products based on American standards and customer needs.
Now Phoenix Contact has significantly expanded its plant to accommodate a growing workforce and increase its manufacturing capacity.
The company recently dedicated a three-story 125,000-square-foot addition, bringing its total space to 360,000 square feet.
“Our growth over the past five years in particular had our development and production teams located in different areas of our current facility as well as rented space across the street from our campus,” explains Vice President David Skelton. “This new facility allows all of the teams that work together to be located together.”
The addition includes 50,000 square feet of production and support space designed to improve material flow throughout the facility and expand overall production capacity. New open offices facilitate collaboration and allow for easy re-configuration. New engineering laboratories support research and development, primarily of products used in the connection, collection, protection and automation of field signals in industry, says Skelton. The expansion is also energy efficient and includes a green roof.
Phoenix Contact's D&M workforce in Swatara Township has grown to 220, primarily in professional positions such as production logistics, manufacturing, electrical, mechanical, computer engineering and project management. (The company employs 521 total at the location, including sales and other personnel.)
Among the products developed there in recent years are standard function Ethernet switches, 900 MHz wireless products, and customer-specific connection and signal conditioning products for Enphase, a leading global manufacturer of micro inverters for the solar industry.
Source: David Skelton, Phoenix Contact
Writer: Elise Vider