Over the past 12 months, Hunter Engineering says it’s made a number of significant changes at its St. Louis headquarters and production plants in Mississippi to ease supply strains and keep products moving.
Last year, Hunter opened a new distribution center in Madison, MS, between its plants in Durant and Raymond, MS. The company said its 106,000-sq.-ft., 37-bay facility was designed to open more production room at the existing plants, while also dramatically speeding up shipping times.
Finished products are now stocked and consolidated in Madison before delivery to customers in a single shipment. The new center soon set a new company record by shipping more than 30 racks in a single day.
As part of the new changes to the headquarters, the company said it is employing a new automated pack-out line, the packing team completely rearranged operations for an improved flow. The receiving team was able to process critical inbound parts two days faster, sending them into the field sooner.
Additionally, Hunter said moving teams to other parts of the building allowed for the removal of walls, creating more space for warehousing and other uses. The manufacturing of bench lathe parts, previously performed by a third party, have also been brought in-house for more quality control and reduced customer lead times, the company said.
In Durant, a new tube-cutting laser enabled all RX leg and cross-member cutting to be performed onsite. An additional massive 10K Trumpf laser was installed to keep pace with demand as well.
In the Raymond metal fabrication plant, additional press brakes, robotic welding cells and a panel former were brought online. New assembly operation cells were added to build the new “Ultimate ADAS” system and the Maverick tire changer.
