Roadmaster, a U.S. manufacturer of towing products for the RV aftermarket, will retrofit an existing 48,000 square-foot building on 5 acres in Portland, Oregon, to increase the company’s manufacturing capacity.
About 36 employees will work at the new facility. Manufacturing will be operational in three to six months.
Roadmaster will use the facility to manufacture core business products such as drop hitches, motorhome spare tire carriers and Guardian rock shields.
According to Roadmaster Vice President David Robinson, the company started planning to repurpose the building over a year ago.
The company experienced a business boom the past two years and had challenges getting raw materials to manufacture parts. Labor, machinery and equipment shortages were also an issue, Robinson said.
Jerry Edwards, Roadmaster founder and president, decided to shut down the company’s existing volumetric concrete mixer truck operation in Portland and use that building to manufacture components for the company’s core business.
The company has invested $4 million making changes to the building’s electrical systems and installing new manufacturing equipment.
Equipment includes a $1 million powder coating machine used to finish manufactured parts. The company is installing a Wheelabr
ator, or shop blast machine, that shoots beads of steel at manufactured parts to prep them for powder coating as well as prevent rust, corrosion and stress fractures. Equipment will include injection molds, laser tables, plasma tables and machine centers.
“It is the best equipment you can buy.” Edwards said. “The reason we are doing this is we have $5 million of back orders and if we do not take care of them, someone else will.”
Robinson said, “Everything we are doing, we are doing to create product for our dealers. It is all about taking care of the customer.”
The refurbished facility is located at 5131 Northeast 148th Ave, Portland, Oregon, about 5 miles or a 20-minute drive from the company’s main manufacturing facility.
Roadmaster has manufactured towing products on-site for 50 years. The company employs 280 at three facilities.
