Ross Products Plant Expansion Nears Completion

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Ross Products, a division of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT ) (Chicago, Illinois), is nearing completion of its facility expansion started early this year in Columbus, Ohio.

The $48 million project includes the modification of the 500,000-square-foot production facility and the installation of a high-speed production line that uses 8-ounce plastic bottles for infant and adult nutritional products. According to the schedule, the new line is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2008.

Ross Products retained the services of CH2M Hill-Lockwood Greene (Cincinnati, Ohio) to provide engineering services to the project while it remains in charge of equipment procurement, construction-contractor selection and related services.

The Columbus plant makes Ensure nutritional drinks for adults and produces baby formula under the Similac, Isomil and Alimentum brands in 2- ounce and 32-ounce bottles. Ross began phasing out the use of cans several years ago in favor of more convenient plastic containers of various sizes. The future of canned products will be geared toward institutional markets.

The Ross Products project is among 39 capital and maintenance active projects with a total investment of $324 million that Industrial Info is tracking in the Food & Beverage Industry in Ohio. Additionally, Industrial Info’s database of operational plants lists 1,579 plants with more than 586 active projects estimated at $45.3 billion across all industries in Ohio.

View Plant Profile - 1511530
View Project Report - 10003906

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) provides marketing communication services ranging from industrial database solutions to market forecasting, custom analytics, and specialty promotions that support high-level image campaigns.