Uzin Utz Comes to Waco

By Josh Neuberger, Director of Marketing, Uzin Utz

Uzin Utz AG (Ulm, Germany) was founded in 1911, and is a vertically integrated manufacturer of product systems designed for the preparation, installation, finishing and care of all types of floor coverings. In North America, three brands (Uzin, Pallmann, & Wolff Tools) of the Uzin Utz Group are represented by the subsidiary Uzin Utz North America Inc., which was founded in 2006.

In January 2021, Uzin Utz North America Inc. announced their intentions to build their second North American manufacturing facility in Waco, Texas. The 125,000 square feet facility will be located on the corner of Mars Drive and Texas Central Parkway. This facility will also be home to a new North American training center for the professional flooring contractor. The expansion in Waco adds to the extensive global manufacturing footprint of Uzin Utz AG with manufacturing facilities in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Poland, Switzerland, Slovenia, Indonesia, and China.

Uzin Utz North America products can be found in commercial and residential buildings ranging from the hospitality, medical, education, or even industrial sectors. In Waco, manufacturing facilities will be built to produce their product range of self-leveling products. These products are unique because they are installed prior to the application of various floor coverings since they produce an ultra-flat surface that cannot be replicated with traditional concrete.

We had the opportunity to speak with Josh Neuberger, Director of Marketing on the following subjects: changing market conditions, the investment in a second facility, why Waco, and future global expansion plans of Uzin Utz AG.

Josh, give us an overview of Uzin Utz North America Inc.

In 2006, Uzin Utz North America Inc. was launched in Greensboro, North Carolina with a team of three that included our president, Matthias Liebert. Our highly innovative product line quickly took off and, in 2009, the team moved the company to Aurora, Colorado to be closer to a major customer at the time. Our corporate headquarters and one of our distribution facilities are still located there. In 2015, we celebrated a milestone with the building of our first North American dry powder manufacturing facility in Dover, Delaware. This investment strengthened the roots of the company and allowed for continued rapid expansion. This expansion allowed capital that was being allocated for logistics services of our products to be re-allocated to other resources within the company. Today, our team consists of nearly 100 employees across all brands and we are proud that Waco, Texas will be home to our second dry mortar facility and training center.

We know you are the director of marketing, but it seems that your company does not let titles define roles?

Yes, you are absolutely correct in that statement! My official title is Director of Marketing and while many of my duties center around the marketing of the company, at various times, we all find ourselves outside our defined roles helping on projects, processes, or even producing product. One of the greatest things about our company is that we share a single mindset of “whatever it takes” to complete tasks and look beyond our official titles to do so. It is one of the greatest advantages, in my opinion, of our company and a value that is shared globally within the Uzin Utz Group.

Can you tell us a bit more about the brands under the Uzin Utz North America Inc. umbrella?

Three out of the seven brands within the Uzin Utz Group are currently being marketed to the professional flooring installation trade in North America. Wolff Tools provides equipment for the removal of existing floor coverings and preparation of concrete substrates prior to floor covering installation. Our PALLMANN brand provides system-based solutions for hardwood flooring contractors ranging from waterborne finishes, sanding equipment, and maintenance products. The flagship brand, UZIN provides moisture vapor retarders, primers and levelers for all types of floor coverings along with thin sets and grouts for the installation of tile and stone products. All of our brands have a dedicated sales team whose primary objective is to stand behind our products with hands-on in the field technical expertise.

We have spoken about the representation in North America, however how is the Uzin Utz Group represented globally?

The Uzin Utz Group is a global company with 15 manufacturing sites in eight different countries and over 20 subsidiaries in different countries. The headquarters for Uzin Utz AG is in Ulm, Germany which is roughly halfway between Munich and Stuttgart. There are many similarities between Ulm and Waco in overall size, location of a major university, and accessibility to a good shipping infrastructure.

Uzin Utz AG is a family business correct?

We are! Uzin Utz AG (UZN) is a publicly traded company on the German stock exchange; however, 51% of the ownership is still held within the Utz family. In 2018, Philipp and Julian Utz were appointed to the Executive Board of Uzin Utz AG along with Heinz Leibundgut. This appointment of Philipp and Julian made them fourth generation board members of the company carrying on the vision that their great-grandfather had when starting the company in 1911.

Uzin Utz AG Headquarters

Wolff Tools Corporate Headquarters

Pallmann Corporate Headquarters

Shifting gears to the topic of market conditions. What market conditions has your company had to adapt to over the years?

The flooring industry in general across all types of floor coverings has been a stable industry over the years. What has shifted during time is consumer preferences of floor covering types. In the 1950s and 1960s hardwood flooring was standard in many new homes as part of the structure of an FHA loan. In the 1970s and 1980s carpeting was (and still is) the dominate floor covering.

In the last 30 years, we’ve seen an increase in demand for new types of floor coverings to the industry like luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and luxury vinyl plank (LVP) in addition to trends on hard surfaces, such as tile and wood. This has shifted our attention to develop new products that aid in the installation of LVT, wood floors, and tile and stone in both installation and longevity for the end user. Our products are designed to maximize productivity for the contractor, increase the health of the jobsites with low odor or enhanced “green” products, and eliminate downtime on projects with quicker cure times across all floor covering types.

In 2015, your company launched its first North American manufacturing facility in Dover, Delaware. Can you describe that investment and current operation?

The Dover Facility

The Dover facility was created out of demand for our UZIN brand of products. As you can imagine, shipping 50-pound bags of self-leveling material across the ocean can be a logistical challenge, in addition to the extra demand being put on our German manufacturing facilities. The city of Dover was selected due to a strong demand for our products on the East Coast, proximity to an ocean port and availability of raw materials. The investment was around $13.5 million and the overall footprint of the building is 64,000 square feet with 20 full time employees. This facility will continue to operate at capacity even after our Waco facility is operational.

In January 2021, you announced that Waco, Texas was going to be home to your second North American manufacturing facility. There’s a great story with this announcement can you share how you made this announcement to your employees?

The decision for Waco, Texas came down to the people.

It is a great story and one that we love to tell often. In January 2021, there were still many restrictions to travel in place and conducting an all company, in person announcement was not possible. We really wanted to promote this new facility, the state of Texas, and city of Waco to our employees and customer base. To accomplish this, we teamed up with Waco Chamber member Guess Family Barbecue and shipped over 2,000 lbs. of Texas BBQ to our employees and select customers for them to enjoy with their families. It was a huge hit! All of our customers from Seattle to Philadelphia loved the gift and now look forward to visiting Waco and Guess Family Barbecue.

Why Waco? What was the decision behind looking at our community as the next landing spot for Uzin Utz North America?

Rendering of Uzin Utz Waco

Our president, Matthias Liebert, said it best at our groundbreaking event: the decision for Waco, Texas came down to the people. Our company had invested many months into researching locations for our second facility considering factors such as closeness to raw materials, land, labor market, logistics, infrastructure and more. Ultimately, at the end of the day, when the team visited Waco and met with the Economic Council, there was a sense of community and a personal touch that sometimes gets overlooked in larger metro areas. The leadership values of the city and county are shared with the values of our own company, all the demographic requirements were met and so the decision to choose Waco came very naturally.

My family and I relocated to the area in December 2020 and would echo the strong community ties that are present. We have relocated a few times over the years and there is not another place that was as welcoming as the community of Waco. We look forward to strengthening our roots within the community and look forward to sharing the community culture with all who visit.

Can you talk about the investment specifically in Waco by Uzin Utz North America?

Our property site is 15 acres located on the corner of Mars Drive and Texas Central Parkway in the Texas Central Industrial Park. Our investment is over $40 million in a 125,000 square feet manufacturing facility, training center, and distribution space that will employ around 40 people. This is the largest investment by the Uzin Utz Group to date and will also feature the largest manufacturing facility within the group. There are 5 acres next to our current parcel that we have a first right of refusal on to grow into as well.

How will this increased output capacity help your company’s growth in the short term and long term?

We continue to see a strong demand for our products. The pandemic fueled construction and remodeling business is very active, and we see no signs of this slowing down. This increased capacity will allow us to get product to our customers quicker, more efficiently, and allow for some additional capacities at our Dover facility for other products. Long term, this facility provides a space for our employees to grow, for us to grow with the community, and to provide the excellent service our customers are accustomed to.

Will this facility produce products that are currently being produced in Germany?

Yes, with the additional capacity, we will adjust the manufacturing process. For some products, instead of producing and shipping them from Germany, we will shift manufacturing to Waco. This is a win-win for the local economy and our logistics costs; plus, our customer base will have access to our products in a quicker timeframe.

In addition to a manufacturing facility, you will also have a training center; what will this entail?

One of the core values in our company is technical training. We strive not only to provide the best in product quality, but also provide the best technical know-how or service expertise in the industry. This facility will be home to the Uzin Utz North American training center for all three brands, bringing over 1,000 contractors to Waco annually. Our training usually takes place over multiple days where our company covers a majority of the costs for the contractor to attend. We strongly believe that this investment in training allows us to efficiently and effectively showcase our system-based product solutions and mitigate potential issues that can happen with flooring installations. Our new training facility will feature dedicated classrooms, workshop areas, and a hands-on application center.

What efforts are under way to attract talent to your company here in Waco, Texas?

Although we will not be operational until around the end of the second quarter next year, and are a bit early on the overall employee selection, there are specialized roles we have started to search for. We have been completely impressed with the resources that are available in Waco, through the Texas Workforce Commission, liaisons from post-secondary schools, and the Economic Council, to mention a few. We are confident that when the time comes for our initial hiring of staff, we will be able to fill the positions required. The community is fully committed to creating opportunities and keeping them in the Waco area.

How is the construction process progressing?

The construction is progressing on schedule with all the logistical challenges that we have all heard about lately. Our groundbreaking ceremony was in June where the community turnout was unbelievable and validated our decision of Waco, Texas. Site excavation work continues with the main steel tower being erected later this fall. Site activity will only continue to increase as we progress through 2021 and early 2022. Benchmark Construction (Houston, Texas) is the local general contractor and, where possible, is using local companies and resources. We look forward to bringing all of our employees to Waco, Texas and inviting the community for a grand opening event in the fall of 2022!

What is the outlook for Uzin Utz North America domestically and globally?

The outlook for our company is very positive. As mentioned earlier, the floor covering industry is a very stable industry only fueled in demand by a current strong construction and remodeling market. In North America, we will continue to grow, both in terms of volume of product and people over the next five years, and the Waco manufacturing facility is a critical piece in all this. Globally, our executive board is always looking at emerging markets and business to expand the footprint of the Uzin Utz Group. This is a very exciting time to be part of the Uzin Utz family.