REI Automation celebrates 30 years with ribbon-cutting for new facility
October 7, 2021
From left, Mike Langmo, REI Automation vice president of operations; Paul Brown, REI Automation vice president and senior engineer; Grant Phillips, REI Automation CEO; and Laurin Burch, REI Automation vice president of finance
REI Automation, which designs and builds custom industrial equipment, celebrated its 30th anniversary on September 30, 2021, by cutting the ribbon on its new headquarters building on Veterans Road in Columbia.
REI Automation CEO Grant Phillips presided over the opening of the new facility. The guests in attendance toured both the new building, which will function as workspace for engineering and business operation, as well as the cutting-edge assembly hall that opened in 2015. A key feature of the new REI Automation headquarters are the large collaborative workspaces for the exchange of ideas and development of prototypes. Collaboration and kindness are core values for REI, which are actively modeled and fostered by their management.
“We’re tremendously pleased to share with friends and associates as we take the next steps in a long and successful journey,” said Phillips. “We’re proud of our accomplishments thus far, and look forward with excitement to the achievements yet to come.” Over the past 30 years, REI has continued to grow and avoid layoffs even through periods of economic downturn. Now, the company continues to successfully produce high-quality equipment for customers in the southeastern United States. As one of the largest factory automation companies in the region, REI offers solutions for the automation of assembly processes and the application of robotics for manufacturing companies.
During the tour of the new REI Automation headquarters, guests and employees also learned more about what the company does through “introductory classes” explaining REI’s capabilities for Smart Factory and digital advanced automation:
- Virtual reality – VR headgear in the factory automation environment enables a worker to go inside a machine and observe every facet of how it operates.
- Vision – The use of cameras to give inputs to machines – to find and measure objects, making sure that they meet specifications and are in the right place.
- PLC programming – Programmable logic controllers function as the brain of every machine that REI makes, from assembly lines to power plants.
REI Automation was founded in 1990 as Reverse Engineering, Inc., specializing in providing reverse engineering and mechanical design services. In 1999, Grant Phillips and Paul Brown purchased the stock in the business and began an expansion of the company’s capabilities and project scale. REI’s engineering staff, based on an 8.5-acre campus in Columbia, is now one of the largest automation development teams in the southeastern United States. Together with the HAHN Group, REI Automation plans to continue its successful operations in the U.S. and aims for ongoing, sustainable growth of the company.
About REI Automation
REI Automation, Inc., develops elegant and robust automation systems for manufacturers and is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina (USA). The company specializes in designing and building custom industrial equipment, such as assembly lines, robotic cells and special-purpose machine systems. Over the past 30 years, REI Automation has built a solid customer base in five industries, including medical, nuclear, consumer goods, electronics and automotive. For more information, visit www.reiautomation.com
About HAHN Group
The HAHN Group unites a network of specialized companies for industrial automation and robot solutions, which currently employs around 1,600 people at 30 locations worldwide. Well-known customers in the automotive, consumer goods, electronics and healthcare industries benefit from the HAHN Group’s expertise and automation know-how that has grown over 30 years. For more information visit www.hahn.group/en
