WestRock Planning To Build Corrugated Box Plant In WI

January 29, 2024 By Ryan Ruskin Comments are Off

The new facility is expected to:

• Support reduced manufacturing costs and waste, improving WestRock’s overall manufacturing cost profile

• Improve sustainability through reduced energy consumption and new technology

• Improve quality and customer satisfaction using state-of-the-art automation

• Enhance digital capabilities and provide real-time data to improve decision making and reduce unplanned downtime

• Serve all key end markets in the Great Lakes region, which include retail, distribution, processed food, industrial, and protein businesses among others.

Construction will begin in 2024 and is expected to be completed in 2025.

According to a WARN notice filed last year, WestRock announced layoffs at two plants in Chicago, one impacting 73 workers and another laying off 48 workers.

Elsewhere, WestRock has laid off workers in Kentucky, Minnesota, and New York. According to its website, WestRock has about 58,000 team members and billions of packages in circulation. It operates more than 300 production facilities worldwide.

In December 2023, the company announced that it had received a 100 score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s assessment of LGBTQ+ workplace equality.

Atlanta, Georgia based WestRock Company announced plans to build a new corrugated box plant in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, to meet growing demand from customers in the Great Lakes region.

The company says it intends to close its existing plant in North Chicago when construction of the new facility is completed. The investment will position WestRock to increase its production capabilities and improve its cost profile in the Great Lakes region. Construction is estimated to cost approximately $140 million and is expected to be partially offset by property sales.

“Investing in a new state-of-the-art corrugated converting facility elevates our production capabilities and better supports our end market strategy and margin improvement targets,” said David B. Sewell, chief executive officer, WestRock.

“We are pleased to expand our presence in an area of critical demand like the Great Lakes and are confident that by implementing production initiatives such as these, we will continue to solidify WestRock’s position as the supplier of choice.”