Infra Pipe leaders share strategic advantages of new Jax facility (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Daily Record) — The pipes are something most people will never see but serve as critical infrastructure for everything from water to data — and are now made in Jacksonville.
At a new facility on the Westside, Canada-based Infra Pipe is betting big on establishing a first-of-its-kind manufacturing hub in Florida, producing colossal pipes that fit a variety of purposes.
Its signature products are produced from high-density polyethylene and can span up to 11 feet in diameter, said Infra Pipe CEO Jimmy Herring.
“So you have to understand everything we produce, everything that you see here, is underground,” Herring said.
Infra Pipe and government leaders joined together to cut the ribbon for the Jacksonville manufacturing plant Thursday. The facility has a footprint of 169,000 square feet and is the largest of Infra Pipe’s six production plants in the U.S. and Canada.
The company aims to eventually hire 60 employees at the facility and is starting off its Jacksonville operation with 40 people on staff.
Refurbishing the facility allows Infra Pipe to produce a vast selection of products, many of which are tailored for particular infrastructure needs.
“We run a product that has pull tape in it, and basically they tie the fiber optics to the pull tape and drag their fiber optics through the pipe,” said Nick Dent, the Jacksonville plant manager for Infra Pipe.
Additionally, the facility is unique, allowing for expansion opportunities without spending significant capital on infrastructure, Herring said. The building has enough space for three additional lines as business opportunities grow, he added.
Using high-density polyethylene as the main material for its products, Infra Pipe is in stiff competition with PVC pipe producers.
Herring said the material offers sturdier piping with longer life spans.
“But really what makes our product unique is the fact that we are 100% HDPE. That is the only material that we use, and we feel very strongly that not only is it more pliable, but it also obviously has a longevity aspect as well,” the CEO said.
Municipalities, water and sewage utilities and fiber-optic cable installers are the ultimate users of the piping.
But the manufacturer’s primary customer base is wholesalers, and it sees a strategic advantage locating its new operation in Northeast Florida – closer to a growing market in the state as its competitors operate farther north in South Carolina and Georgia.
Investing $4 million in the new facility at 109 Stevens St., the CEO said that Jacksonville was the perfect spot for Infra Pipe’s logistical needs.
“The uniqueness about our industry is that typically you limit your radius of customers to 500 miles, because as you ship product like this, you’re mostly shipping air, and so the transportation cost is very significant,” Herring said. “So you really want to identify your market first, and then within that market, within a 500-mile radius, then try to find the ideal location to establish your operational footprint, like we’ve done obviously here in Jacksonville.”
Photo courtesy of Infra Pipe