Northumberland-headquartered offsite construction firm Merit has announced plans for a 4000m² factory expansion at its Cramlington site.
Merit already has one of the largest construction manufacturing facilities in the UK at 270,000ft² (25,084m²) and it is now extending its factory space to address “increasing demand”, it said in a press release today.
Merit expects this facility expansion to add over 50 new jobs.
The extended high-bay facility will accommodate two new manufacturing lines for Merit’s UltraPOD+ product, an expandable full building solution, and will enable the pre-assembly and testing of two-modules vertically stacked.
The firm said this provides an enhanced understanding of the alignment of modules prior to the transportation to the site. Additional equipment, such as two 50T gantry cranes and a module lifting frame, will also be included into the new setup.
This approach greatly reduces project lead times, maximises material efficiency, lowers capital and revenue costs and significantly reduces external professional consultant fees, Merit said.
Tony Wells, CEO of Merit, commented: “Merit’s strategic objective is to deliver a step change in productivity within the construction industry and to show that investment in R&D and leveraging innovative approaches, such as advanced 4D BIM modelling technology, can lead to significant improvements.
“Our factory expansion will enable us to further optimise our way of working and better serve our customers.”
The firm expects the new facility to be operational by April 2023.
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