Suhner Manufacturing plans expansion into Brugg Cables building after Brugg closes

Employees of Brugg Cables North America have been told the plant will shut down next year, but all 15 employees will have the opportunity to sign on with sibling company Suhner Manufacturing, a company official said.

Suhner Manufacturing, 43 Anderson Road, next to the Brugg Cable plant at 25 Anderson Road, is growing and will move into the Brugg building.

Suhner CEO Guido Broder said Suhner sales through the first eight-plus months of 2016 are up nearly 28 percent and are projected to grow another 20 percent in 2017.

“We have to expand,” Broder said.

Brugg Cables has not enjoyed that kind of success, as Suhner let Brugg Cables President Damon Jones go on Monday and Broder is filling his post on an interim basis.

The company plans to fill all of its open orders into 2017. “Then we will start moving the equipment back to Switzerland and by the middle of next year, June 30, we will cease operations,” Broder said. One day later, July 1, Suhner will be moving into the Brugg space, about 22,500 square feet.

“We assume they’ve been good people with Brugg so they will be good people at Suhner,” Broder said of the current Brugg workers. He estimates that Suhner will need another 35 to 50 more employees over the next three to five years.

“We share pension plans and health insurance so this should be a practically seamless transition,” Broder said.

Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce President Al Hodge said Suhner was one of the first international businesses to locate in Rome more than 40 years ago.

“Mr. Suhner and others on the executive management team have been great corporate citizens of Rome. This is great news for additional job opportunities for the community,” Hodge said.

The same Swiss family headed by Otto Suhner owns Suhner and Brugg. Jurg Suhner, Otto’s son, currently serves as CEO of the company.

“We’re looking at $5 million to $7 million in capital investment into that building,” Broder said. “We are looking at a model to go to four 12-hour shifts seven days a week.”

Suhner makes flexible shafts, with much of the growth coming in the automotive and medical sectors.

The shafts are used in the systems that open the sunroof in an automobile and control the adjustment of automobile seats.

In the medical industry, shafts are used in drive cables in a variety of surgical procedures. Hologic is Suhner’s largest customer in that field, according to Broder.

Brugg makes “everything from fiber optic cables and low voltage cables to power supplies for construction sites and 500 kilovolt high voltage cables,” according to its website.

Broder said that he anticipates Suhner may need to find another 35,000 to 40,000 square feet of production space to be able to meet customer demand within the next three to five years.

northwestgeorgianews.com