PSiSC Hopes To Begin Production Here Soon

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By Tammy Gray-Searles
    “Our goal is to have the first line running by mid-June,” said Partition Systems Incorporated of South Carolina (PSiSC) representative Lee Starling regarding the company’s new manufacturing facility in Holbrook.
    After significant delays, equipment is finally arriving and construction is being finished on the facility, which is located south of East Hermosa Drive, near the Bread of Life Mission. The first large piece of equipment, a sophisticated computer-driven cutting machine, is in place and other units are on their way, according to Starling. Final work on the trucking bays is in progress, and the offices are being tiled and carpeted.
    The 100,000 square-foot, $4 million plant will start operations with 10 employees, using one production line to create toilet partitions. Starling noted that up to 100 partitions per day will be completed once train-ing is complete. Hiring for the first group of employees has already begun. The partitions manufactured at the facility will supply the company’s West Coast clients, while the existing South Carolina facility sup-plies the rest.
    Once the first production line is fully operational, the company will decide when to put a second line into place. Starling noted that the second line will likely manufacture lockers. The company recently began offering a new type of anti-microbial locker, and Starling explained that they are expecting the number of orders for those lockers to continue increasing.
    The antimicrobial lockers are designed to prevent the spread of disease and infections, including drug-resistant staph. Several incidents of drug-resistant staph infections circulating in public schools prompted PSiSC officials to consider marketing the lockers and partitions to schools, rather than just to medical facilities.
    Starling noted that each production line will require about 10 employees, and the company plans to eventually operate four lines in the Holbrook facility. Whether the additional lines are dedicated to producing lockers or partitions will depend on sales.
    PSiSC plans to hold an open house at the new facility in early June, but an exact date has not been set.
    “We’d like the public to come and see the facility, see what we’re doing here,” Starling remarked.
    The massive production area includes receiving bays and offices at one end, and shipping bays and of-fices at the other. About one-fourth of the floor space is set aside for storing supplies and materials prior to processing, and the rest of the area will house the large equipment needed for manufacturing. Starling noted that the company built a large facility so that it would be prepared for expansion. In addition to the 100,000 square-foot manufacturing floor, the building includes a large office, training and conference area.
    The opening of the Holbrook plant was partially delayed by the need for the company to make changes at the South Carolina plant that will allow it to better coordinate production between the two facilities. Star-ling explained that once they realized that they would not be opening by fall 2007, they decided to push the opening date back.
    The delay gave PSiSC time to change its production lines in South Carolina to complement the production lines planned for Holbrook. Starling noted that it would be difficult to open a new facility and change production lines at the existing facility at the same time, so the decision was made to change the lines at the South Carolina plant first.
    Initially planned as a 50,000-square foot facility, owner Kenneth Bass explained that because of rapid sales growth the plans were expanded to double that size. Instead of employing a maximum of 15 to 20 people, the plant will employ approximately 50 people at a starting wage of $18,000 to $20,000 once all production lines are up and running. Starling noted that he has already started interviewing applicants and will finish hiring the first crew of 10 over the next two to three weeks.
    PSiSC has been in business since 1983, when it developed a new, highly durable type of toilet partition. Over the last 23 years, the company has expanded from sales to schools to supplying partitions to major retailers, and now supplies partitions to 30 of the top 50 retailers in the nation, such as Target, Home Depot and Wal-Mart, as well as to most of the major school districts in the country.