Moyna is putting up new maintenance building amid ongoing expansion
CJ Moyna employees break ground on a new maintenance building being constructed in the Elkader Industrial Park. The 75,000-square-foot building will bring all Moyna repair operations under one roof and include full-scale painting operations with blast and painting booths. (Photo by Willis Patenaude)
The addition of the maintenance building is expected to increase efficiency, promote job growth and allow greater flexibility. Construction is projected to finish next summer.
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
In an effort to streamline several companies, create a more efficient business model and keep up with trending growth, CJ Moyna & Sons is constructing a new, 75,000-square-foot maintenance building in the Elkader Industrial Park.
As explained to members of the Elkader City Council, the project is designed to bring all Moyna repair operations under one roof, while opening up more space in current buildings for other operations under the Moyna umbrella. That includes Mobile Track Solutions (MTS) and Just Move It, especially as it relates to research and development (R&D), in an effort to remain “on the cutting edge” of innovation, as Moyna said.
When it comes to that innovation, there were numerous ideas mentioned at the meeting, including the manufacturing of an electric scraper, rechargeable batteries, 3-D printing and robotic welders. It’s all in an effort to stay at the forefront of the global market. This also creates additional supply chain flexibility, income and increases productivity, all of which has a positive impact on the community in terms of expansion, job growth and increased population.
“We want to take new ideas and concepts and make them a reality,” said MTS President Justin Augustyn.
A main focus behind the project is the growth in dealerships that sell MTS equipment. According to MTS Marketing Director Taylor Bockenstedt, MTS currently has 21 signed-on dealers in the United States and Australia, resulting in the “need for increased production space.”
“This new facility will allow our business to move product support and repair as well as research & development to the building currently occupied by CJ Moyna. By relocating those departments, MTS will be able to expand our manufacturing/warehousing capabilities to continue growth of our brand as well as prepare for the upcoming John Deere production that was announced in June 2021,” Bockenstedt added.
Another reason for the new building has to do with equipment usage or hours. To date, CJ Moyna has seen a 15 percent increase over the previous high. This leads to repairs, which will be housed in the new building, creating more internal efficiency within the company.
Right now, not all of the maintenance is handled in one building. Instead, it’s spread around various sections of current buildings, which impacts wait times, project focus and repairs themselves.
Inside this new building will be space for repairs, painting, a plasma cutter and a blast booth to prepare equipment for painting. The new building, which will be part of the Moyna Materials company, will allow some of the load to be taken off MTS, allowing that company to focus more exclusively on MTS services that revolve around manufacturing.
Essentially, Moyna Materials is being brought up to speed and will control more aspects of its own services, which revolves around repair, with less outsourcing to other affiliates of Moyna & Sons.
This new project is expected to create more jobs for positions such as mechanics, painters and fabricators. In a separate interview, Augustyn said it has the potential to increase the labor force by 25 percent.
However, the issue of potential job growth was also brought up at the council meeting, and led council member Peggy Lane to ask how Moyna planned to fill those positions given the nature of labor availability in the current economic climate.
In response, Augustyn discussed state sponsored apprenticeships, most notably the recently developed apprenticeship program through MTS, which completed its pilot program earlier this year. Three area high school students completed the 16-week, hands-on training with the guidance of an MTS welder.
It’s part of Moyna’s effort to “cultivate” the workforce locally, find the right fit with the right attitude and to be as proactive as possible to “take control of our destiny,” as Augustyn explained.
However, it’s not just in attracting employees where the Moyna-owned businesses are looking to control their own destiny. It’s also in the supply chain, which globally has been in a constant state of flux since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and continues in certain industries, like those of Moyna & Sons, MTS and JustMoveIt.
Augustyn explained the challenge as a “whack-a-mole” problem they are trying to solve because it’s an evolving issue. One week it is rims, and the next it’s cabs. The availability of steel plays a factor too.
Long term, the new maintenance building, which opens space in other buildings, is expected to limit some of this problem, as well as have a positive impact on quality control and lead to constant reinvestment back into the businesses.
The project is now underway, with the hopes of beginning vertical construction in July and having it entirely enclosed by the start of winter. That will allow work to continue on remaining segments inside the building. The current timeline puts project completion within a year, and it will then be ready for use.
