State of the Art Manufacturing Facility Created in Existing Warehouse Heather Seftel-Kirk South Carolina Construction News Greenville-based O’Neal, Inc., converted a 10-year-old, pharmaceutical warehouse in Fountain Inn into a state of the art manufacturing plant for its client Bosch Rexroth. Completed in just six months, and within the project’s budget of $15 million, the 265, 000 sq. ft. plant required close collaboration, with subcontractors working side by side and typical construction schedules adjusted to meet the tight demands. Using engineer-procure-construc- tion (EPC) project delivery method, O’Neal’s facility upgrades included new steel reinforcement for a utility mezza- nine, electrical upgrades, chilled water lines, heat treating, compressed air systems, and a new concrete reinforced slab for machining equipment. The project also included 12,000 square feet of new office space and upgrades to all utility services. A technical support mezzanine located over the produc- tion area, designed to support a utility distribution system, as well as overhead hoists required for plant operations and equipment installation, were installed. A state of the art fire protection system, compliant with Bosch and its in- surer’s standards, was also required. Shane Bolding, business unit leader at O’Neal Inc., says the project had been part of Bosch’s expansion plans for several years but when the time came for construction, it had to be implemented very quickly to expand the com- pany’s manufacturing capacity and customer require- ments. The project used an existing structure and nearby available land . “They could have just torn down the old shell but instead used it to create a state of the art manu- facturing facility within an existing distribution building,” Bolding said. “While this created some challenges it also protected the work from weather related issues because the structure was already enclosed.” Bosch North American director Jerry Greene says among the chal- lenges facing the team, an already short, eight month schedule was compressed to six months and normal construction schedules had to be adjusted. “Construction began in January but we needed to be in as early as possible to start installing our own equip- ment. We got a partial certificate of occupancy so we started mov- ing that equipment in by February. O’Neal’s project man- ager and team were terrific at helping things along and knowing how best to handle this.” South Carolina Construction News is distributed throughout the Carolinas construction industry from offices at 127 College Avenue, Durham, NC 27713. SCCN is circulated on a controlled circulation list to qualified readers including members of most major construction associations in the Carolinas. For information contact: Bob Kruhm at 919-544-3719 or email rkruhm@nc.rr.com. ISSN 1940-3682. The South Carolina Construction News — October/November 2013 – 7