BALTIMORE, MD- Marlin Steel Wire has announced plans to expand its manufacturing floor space in Baltimore City, after its best first quarter in history, four years of record profits and steady revenue increases, and a surge in export demand for custom wire baskets, wire forms and sheet metal fabrications like housings and consoles. Marlin Wire has brought on adjacent manufacturing space to maximize efficiencies and permit manageable growth. Marlin Steel’s absorption of additional space will allow it to plan for the $5 million of new robots to be purchased over the next decade.

Marlin Steel’s lease extends through 2017 with an option until 2022 In addition; Marlin Steel Wire has the right of first refusal on 100,000 square feet of adjacent space.

“We feel a commitment to Baltimore, with its excellent port, BWI Airport, road and transit system, and talented local professionals so there was never a thought of leaving the area,” says Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel Wire Products. “This infrastructure, combined with the local vendors and financial services, makes it easy to remain in the area.”

The new space will accelerate delivery schedules at Marlin Steel by:

Increasing the number of dock doors by 80%, so more trucks can be loaded and unloaded simultaneously;

Unclogging aisles so flow improves; and

Creating Henry Ford’s “U Flow” style of manufacturing where items flow in a “U” format in and then out of the factory with less sidetracking.

Several improvements to the factory floor will be implemented at the same time, to improve quality and employee ambience including:

Doubling the number of skylights so robot operators can more easily inspect their work in natural light;

Painting all walls a reflective white so it is easier to observe quality;

Sealing and painting the floors so they are easier to clean; and

Doubling the application engineers’ offices so they can meet clients to collaborate more efficiently on ideas to improve product throughput.

The company says it exported more than 25% of its products in the first quarter, and that it needs the floor space to meet the demand of its global clients.