Sarasota manufacturer moves work from Ohio facility to local campus

Sarasota-based engineered motion control and hydraulic cartridge valve manufacturer Helios Technologies recently moved some work from Ohio to Florida.

The publicly traded company, which develops, makes, markets and sells customized electronic control systems and hydraulic cartridge valves, says it moved “quick release coupling order fulfillment” previously done in Maumee, Ohio, to a building on its Sarasota campus. The work is for Helios’ Faster North America’s products, the company says in a statement; Helios acquired the Faster Group, a global manufacturer of quick-release hydraulic coupling solutions based in Milan, in February 2018 for $531 million. 

A Helios Technologies spokeswoman says it wasn't an entire facility that was moved from Ohio to Florida, but "rather fulfillment processing." 

There were about 30 employees in the Ohio location who did that work, the spokeswoman says. Those employees impacted were offered the opportunity to relocate to Sarasota or Indiana. "We have had a number of employees take advantage of relocation offers and it has been a great way to develop our talent internally, growing their individual skills and knowledge across our businesses," the spokeswoman wrote in a Friday afternoon email to the Business Observer regarding a question about the jobs impacted. 

“This transfer streamlines operations, provides space for future coupling manufacturing and facilitates technological advancements through our Robert E. Koski Center of Engineering Innovation,” the company says in the statement. The Sarasota facility, what it calls “the Hydraulic Valve and Coupling Solutions Center of Excellence,” opened in the fourth quarter of 2023. 

In addition to the move to Sarasota, Helios, also in the fourth quarter, says it expanded its plant in Mishawaka, Indiana, by adding 50,000 square feet to the existing 72,000-square-foot facility. That facility, the company says, is now the “hub for manifold machining and integrated package assembly operations.” It also consolidated operations from Sun Hydraulics, Faster and Daman Products into one North American Center with the expansion. 

That Indiana center, the company adds, “has reached strong throughput levels supporting approximately $100 million in run-rate annual revenues, up from approximately $30 million from one year ago and allows for future growth.”

Helios shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbol HLIO. The company, with $885.4 million in revenue in 2022, sells products in a host of markets including construction, material handling, agriculture, energy, recreational vehicles, marine and health and wellness. It sells its products to customers in over 90 countries.

This story was updated Feb. 11 to reflect that Helios Technologies moved fulfillment processing from Ohio to Florida, not a facility that handles the work.