REHAU opens new North American edgeband plant at Celaya, Mexico production hub

The company celebrates the inauguration of its third plant in Celaya and the 30th anniversary of REHAU Mexico.

12.14.2023

Last Friday, REHAU celebrated the grand opening of Plant Celaya 3, an expansive, modern facility capable of securing the company’s position as the leading North American edgeband supplier for decades. The new plant is located in central Mexico, next to the company’s two existing plants in the municipality of Apaseo el Grande, Gto. With an investment of $25 million US dollars, the plant adds 172,000 sq. ft. (16,000 sq. m.) of manufacturing and warehouse space and is projected to create 300 new jobs when it reaches full production during 2024.

Guests attending the ceremony included: Diego Sinhue, governor of the State of Guanajuato; Jose Luis Oliveros Usabiaga, mayor of Apaseo el Grande; the regional executive board of REHAU Americas and furniture manufacturers from Canada, Mexico and the United States. Company executives speaking at the ceremony including REHAU Group President Dr. Veit Wagner and Americas CEO Dr. Thomas Troeger highlighted the significance of this expansion for the woodworking industry of North America and the communities surrounding Celaya.

Edgeband is a narrow strip of polymer material that is printed and finished to match the woodworking industry’s leading HPL and melamine brands. The range of materials, profile widths and thicknesses, colors and decorative finishes leads to a complex manufacturing process with more than 10,000 SKUs.

“REHAU is known throughout the woodworking industry for our superior ability to produce edgeband that perfectly matches the surface laminate,” said Dr. Thomas Troeger, CEO of REHAU Americas. “This proprietary technology is labor-intensive and requires significant skill. Once again, we turn to central Mexico to find the exceptional skilled labor force we need to support our customers as they grow their businesses.”

“Edgeband production is one of our most complex processes,” said Steven John, director of Plant Celaya 3 who transferred from Canada to continue leading the company’s edgeband manufacturing processes. “As a result, international team spirit was essential to succeeding with the plant opening we celebrate today. Colleagues from Brazil, from Germany, from Spain, and especially from Canada spent weeks, even months here, working shoulder-to-shoulder with our Mexico team. Our extensive global edgeband manufacturing experience, continually refined since the 1970s, now resides in Celaya.”

“We are proud to bring more jobs to the municipalities of Celaya, Apaseo el Alto and Apaseo el Grande,” said Dr. Veit Wagner, president of the REHAU Group. “With this expansion, we will have almost 1,000 employees in Mexico, most of them on this campus, making Mexico the second largest country in terms of staff within our subgroup REHAU Industries.”

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Officially inaugurating Plant Celaya 3

Local officials join REHAU management to officially open Plant Celaya 3: (from left to right) Maria Alva Cervantes Cervantes, longest serving REHAU Mexico employee; Ramon Alfaro, Guanajuato secretary of economic development; Dr. Veit Wagner, president of the REHAU Group; Diego Sinhue, governor of the State of Guanajuato; Jose Luis Oliveros Usabiaga, mayor of Apaseo el Grande; Dr. Thomas Troeger, CEO REHAU Americas; Gaspar Sierra, REHAU Celaya site director and manager of Plant Celaya 1.

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Plant Celaya 3 opens on central Mexico campus

Located next to the company’s two existing plants in the municipality of Apaseo el Grande in central Mexico, Plant Celaya 3 adds 172,000 sq. ft. (16,000 sq. m.) of manufacturing and warehouse space and is projected to create 300 new jobs when it reaches full production during 2024. Plant Celaya 3 is shown in the foreground, followed by Plant Celaya 2 and then Plant Celaya 1 in the background.

Supporting the success of the new plant is a robust supply chain, including dedicated REHAU trucks that will run daily between Celaya and the company’s new Dallas warehouse, and a more integrated, Americas-wide supply chain management (SCM) team.

The day-long celebration last Friday was multifaceted, complete with the official opening and plant tours followed by a reception featuring traditional Mexican food and folk music. In welcoming the 1,200 guests and employees to the reception, Gaspar Sierra, REHAU Celaya site director and manager of Plant Celaya 1, said, “We have a lot to celebrate: The opening of Plant Celaya 3, the 30th anniversary of REHAU Mexico and Central America and the 75th anniversary of the founding of REHAU by Mr. Helmut Wagner.”

About REHAU Edgeband

REHAU first produced edgeband in 1970 to cover the raw edges of particle board in millwork and cabinetry and has since earned the reputation as the best surface-to-edge matchmaker in the industry. The company has continually innovated to solve issues at the edge from REHAU FlexEdge^® semi-rigid edging to REHAU LaserEdge^TM zero-joint technology to offering the industry’s largest selection of sizes and materials online at the REHAU Marketplace. Whether the material is PVC, PP, PMMA or ABS, REHAU edgeband is delivered with an imperceptible color difference of less than 1 Delta E. Available in quantities as small as 100 ft. (30 m) coils, edgeband is credited with spurring the international growth of the REHAU Group, often being the first product sold in a new country because of its ease of packaging and shipping.

Learn more about REHAU Edgeband at www.na.rehau.com/edgeband and on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. With headquarters in Leesburg, Va., REHAU North America can be reached at (800) 247-9445, rehau.mailbox@rehau.com and www.na.rehau.com.

About REHAU Mexico

Established in 1993, REHAU Mexico is the headquarters for the company’s operations in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands. The company manufactures automotive components, refrigerator gaskets and profiles for windows and doors and commercial refrigeration, employing almost 1,000 mostly at its four plants in Celaya and Monterrey. A leader in the appliance industry, REHAU counts among its customers Whirlpool, Mabe, Imbera, Metalfrío and Metaplus. In addition to shipping profiles to window manufacturers throughout North America, REHAU supplies finished windows to Home Depot stores in Mexico from its Celaya production hub.

Learn more about REHAU Mexico at https://www.rehau.com/mx-es and on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. The company’s Mexico headquarters in Celaya can be reached at +52 (461) 618-8000 and marketing.mexico@rehau.com.

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Celebrating in the well-lite interior of Plant Celaya 3

REHAU’s commitment to being a certified Great Place to Work is evident in the design of its new plant with expansive windows and skylights providing natural lighting, a spacious layout contributing to workplace safety, an onsite restaurant serving local specialties, and the possibility of enjoying a soccer game on grounds at day’s end. Shown here, Steven John, director of Plant Celaya 3 (center), with the key people who got Plant Celaya 3 to start-of-production.

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Learning about edgeband production during plant tours

As local officials and woodworking industry customers from Canada, Mexico and United States toured the plant, from color lab to design center to extrusion hall, they got a firsthand look at what it takes to produce high-quality edgeband.

About the REHAU Group

Founded in 1948 in the Bavarian town of Rehau, the REHAU Group develops, manufactures and markets polymer-based solutions for automotive, construction, furniture, materials, medical and industrial sectors throughout the world. The independent, family-owned group of companies operates in more than 190 locations with more than 20,000 employees. Passionate and committed, REHAU teams work each day toward the common goal of improving lives through the use of innovative, sustainable technologies: Engineering progress. Enhancing lives.

Learn more about the REHAU Group at http://www.rehau.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.