Product development company Kreate intends to open a consumer and professional products manufacturing facility in Tiffin, Ohio. The company, which develops and manufactures consumer and professional products, invested $100 million into the project and expects to create approximately 120 new jobs.

The 542,000-square-foot facility includes machinery, infrastructure, tooling and startup operations. The first machines have arrived, with production scheduled to begin Oct. 1.

The facility will operate 32 new Engel injection-molding machines using iQ weight-control technology. These will work in concert with pick-and-place robots, Fanuc collaborative robots, autonomous guided vehicles and automated packaging.

Kreat will deploy Krevera's read-write computer-vision AI platform, which connects production equipment, quality systems and factory operations. It will inspect output, identify process deviations, communicate directly with equipment and enable machines to make autonomous corrections in real time. Ideally, this system enables companies to increase production speed and improve quality while reducing material usage and making less waste.

“We are not buying individual machines,” said Nickolas Reinhart, founder and owner of Kreate, in a September press release. “We are building one complete manufacturing system.”

The facility also includes an integrated rail spur capable of holding 25 railcars.

Kreate will also maintain an on-site tool-and-die maintenance and repair area, enabling the skilled trades team to maintain, repair and optimize production tooling internally.

The operation is expected to create about 120 jobs across:

• skilled trades

• tool-and-die repair

• manufacturing, engineering

• robotics

• automation

• maintenance

• logistics.

“Skilled trades plus technology is the future of American manufacturing,” said Reinhart. “The companies that win will put a full stack of technology in the hands of the best people.”

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