United Grinding celebrates 30 years in Virginia

United Grinding Technologies Inc. celebrated 30 years in its Fredericksburg, Va., location with an open house on Feb. 22 and 23. The event included technical presentations, facility tours and a ribbon-cutting event for the newly expanded and renovated facility. The upgrades include a 7,500-sq.-ft. showroom/demonstration area, new training facility, customer care center and engineering offices. The Fredericksburg location is the U.S. headquarters for Walter EWAG, United Grinding’s tool grinding machine unit.

United Grinding’s headquarters are in Miamisburg, Ohio, home to the company’s other grinding machine brands: Mikrosa, Schaudt, Studer, Blohm, Jung and Mägerle. The expansion in Fredericksburg is a response to the growing U.S. tool grinding market.

Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative, an organization dedicated to convincing U.S. companies to bring manufacturing jobs back the U.S., was the keynote speaker at the event. He noted several trends working in favor of reshoring. Wages in China are going up 15 to 20 percent per year and the Chinese currency, the Yuan, is appreciating 6 percent per year against the dollar. Also, the Chinese policy of one child per family is leading to an aging population, which means that as demand for labor is increasing in China, the supply of labor there is going down.

Courtesy of A. Rooks

Ed Sinkora, senior product manager for United Grinding Techologies’ Fredericksburg facility, welcomes customers and other guests to the company’s open house.

Considering these factors and others, such as rising transportation costs, more domestic manufacturers are bringing production back to the U.S. “Reshoring is the fastest and most efficient way to strengthen the U.S. economy,” Moser said. “Reshoring, if carried as far as possible, could eliminate the U.S. trade deficit with China, which stands at $600 billion per year, create three million additional U.S. manufacturing jobs and eight million more total jobs.”