DIRTT Environmental Solutions Ltd. opened their newest manufacturing plant located in Rock Hill, within York County, South Carolina. The company’s other manufacturing facilities are located in Phoenix, Arizona, Savannah, Georgia, and Calgary, Alberta, serving clients across the United States and Canada.
As North America emerges from the pandemic, businesses are re-activating and accelerating new and previously paused construction projects, demanding more adaptability and resiliency from the built environment. The addition of DIRTT’s Rock Hill plant further enables businesses to rapidly design, build and update their environments.
“Organizations need their spaces built and operational quickly, and with minimal disruptions,” says Kevin O’Meara, DIRTT’s CEO. “Reducing risk around schedule, budget and resource availability, and the ability to scale quickly are key factors driving construction decisions today. Our state-of-the-art Rock Hill facility allows us to meet customers’ growing needs, with additional capacity by leveraging the latest in automation and robotics.”
An approximate $18.5 million investment, the Rock Hill plant operates in a leased, custom-built 130,000 square foot building and is expandable to 260,000 square feet to support future growth. The plant is designed to maximize the manufacturing of wall tiles, a key component of DIRTT’s construction system. “Increased precision, faster production times, and reduced waste all come with a customer benefit,” says Jeff Calkins, Chief Operating Officer at DIRTT. “Innovations like the technology we are using at Rock Hill, dramatically reduce the time it takes to manufacture our solutions. As one example, a paint color changeover on a wall tile that used to take 45 minutes, now takes less than five. We believe our production system at Rock Hill is unique to the industry.”
The new location also reduces shipping costs and transport times for customers located on the Eastern seaboard. DIRTT chose the Rock Hill location because it offers improved service to the Southeastern United States by balancing production facilities in Western Canada. Its proximity to Charlotte also allows for customers to visit the location as part of their experience. The plant will initially employ 25 permanent, full-time employees.
"We are proud to have DIRTT in our community and to have them take full advantage of our strategic location within the growing Southeastern marketplace,” shared Christi Cox, Chairwoman for York County Council. "To see another internationally owned manufacturing operation doing so well is exciting. Congratulations to the DIRTT team on the completion of their Rock Hill facility. We are thankful for their investment and the creation of good jobs they provide to our citizens."