Photo Caption: Thomas Wunderlich, factory manager at Nestle’s Anderson plant, speaks with those in attendance at the Madison County Chamber of Commerce’s Wake Up Breakfast Thursday morning at the Anderson D26 Career Center.
Several recent and ongoing projects at Nestle’s plant adjacent to Interstate 69 will serve both to increase production capacity and entrench the company as a prominent part of the local business community for years to come, a company official said Thursday.
Thomas Wunderlich, the factory manager for the Nestle facility, addressed an audience of local business leaders at the Madison County Chamber of Commerce’s Wake Up Breakfast at the Anderson D26 Career Center.
“We have to really think through, how do we stay relevant?” Wunderlich said. “How do we stay competitive for the long-term future?”
The company’s Anderson facility, which opened production in 2008 and has since expanded seven times – investing more than $1.6 billion in the process – houses its largest U.S. distribution center. The plant produces 1.1 billion bottles of product annually, including Coffeemate and Starbucks creamers, Nesquik flavored milk and Boost nutritional drinks.
Wunderlich said the company is currently in the process of replacing several fillers on the factory floor. The new technology, he said, will allow for increased capacity and further streamline and sanitize the process of transforming raw materials into store-ready product.
He said the costs of technology upgrades at the plant would be offset by finding new efficiencies in the production process, which should mitigate costs to consumers.
“We’re looking at, how do we generate more output through more efficiencies, utilizing some of the investments and technologies that we’re using to offset those costs?” Wunderlich said. “That’s the plan right now, and we’re on track to do that.”
Wunderlich also praised the partnership the company recently launched with Anderson Community Schools and the D26 Career Center. The apprenticeship program, which started with the 2022-23 school year, trains students for future employment opportunities at the plant. The program’s first six graduates are set to begin their jobs at Nestle by the end of the month, Wunderlich said.
He added that if the Anderson facility, which employs about 800 people, experiences recent trends in worker turnover and attrition, it may need to replace as many as 200 of those employees in the coming years.
“It has definitely become more difficult (to find qualified workers), so this is why I personally see big value in developing the programs here (at D26),” he said. “If we are strong with the programs that we’ve just kicked off, guess where our individual team members will come from? They’ll come from right here because they’re the most qualified.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.