It’s possible the boxes you just recycled, which came from a warehouse in Alabama filled with something manufactured in Mexico using parts from China, had been taped up by a machine that was built in your neighborhood.
EdgeTec, a four-person operation at 2171 Energy Park Drive, offers a local example of just how global our consumption has become.
Anyone who has had the experience of trying to stuff a toy back into a box for storage knows that the box is built precisely to contain that toy. The shower stall kit that you dragged home from a retailer probably has many pieces, each in its own taped-up cardboard wrapper.
EdgeTec owner Scott Hudson explained that all this boxing and taping has often been done by hand, with people on a conveyor line tucking in the last folds and taping each box. It’s slow, and tape gets wasted.
Going for efficiency
EdgeTec’s business is to automate that process, making it faster and more efficient.
Hudson said the company, previously called Production Resources, has been around for about 20 years. He worked there and then purchased it from the previous owner, who retired.
Hudson bought the building on Energy Park about seven years ago, renovated part of it for EdgeTec and moved the company from Maplewood to St. Paul.
He wanted a larger building, and the central location was attractive for employees. He had a setback in the volatile economy last year and dropped his staff from six to four.
Hudson is worried about the trend in property taxes; the county’s tax records show the amount due on his building has roughly doubled in the past five years.
Currently, Hudson has another tenant in the building and is weighing investment and expansion, envisioning that EdgeTec will eventually be large enough to occupy the entire space.
EdgeTec originally specialized in supplying and repairing conveyor belts, Hudson said. But he has shifted to manufacturing equipment for packaging. The pandemic led to opportunities as people dramatically increased their online purchases.
More recently, an economic cool-down has caused purchases to drop off, but the company has more customers needing replacement parts and maintenance.
Hudson, whose background is in communications, can also trouble-shoot programming issues as machines age and need updating.
While much of EdgeTec’s client base is national, Hudson said the company also has a network of local suppliers. One of their lead products, the L-Clip machine that smacks a perfectly sized piece of tape in exactly the right spot on the edge of a box, is built right there in the shop using a sheet-metal cover from another local manufacturer.
Another product, a roller that packages posters, might go to a crafter sending a few dozen fine-art prints to small gift shops. “We kind of own the market on this,” Hudson said.
He said the company can put a whole conveyor line together using a combination of its own machines and those from other sources.
“If we don’t have the capability, we’ll reach out to companies who do,” Hudson said.
Anne Holzman is a Twin Cities freelance writer and regular contributor to the Bugle.
