On November 30, the Puget Sound Business Journal published a story on Washington manufacturers expanding their manufacturing footprints in response to supply chain uncertainty and other issues caused by the pandemic. First Mode COO Rhae Adams spoke to PSBJ’s Marissa Nall for the story.
Article excerpt:
First Mode, which engineers products for the space and clean-energy industries, plans to spend around $5 million on expansion in the next 12 months, said Chief Operating Officer Rhae Adams. That includes two new 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facilities in the Puget Sound region and Perth, Australia, as well as training and development programs for its employees. It aims to double its workforce of 150, around 120 of whom are located in Seattle, and begin development on a third facility to serve as a proving ground for ruggedized zero-emission technologies.
The new roles will include dedicated supply chain and logistics managers, he added, as the company overhauls many of its processes to respond to the disruptions.
“We’ve had to totally change our strategies on what we’re keeping in stock and inventory versus what we’re ordering, when lots of these things take nine months to produce,” Adams said.
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