St. Louis Business Journal
By Nathan Rubbelke
Bastian Solutions, an Indianapolis-based firm that provides material handling systems and supply chain technology, has opened a new facility to house its robotics division in St. Louis.
Bastian has begun operating from its new 140,177-square-foot facility at 3143 Riverport Tech Center Drive in Maryland Heights. Bastian relocated its robotics operations from another site in Maryland Heights, at 2200 Forte Court, where it had about 80,000 square feet, said Jim Clark, Bastian’s president of manufacturing strategy and operations.
Describing itself as a “supply chain integration partner,” Bastian Solutions offers an array of material handling systems and automation technologies. Its robotics division in St. Louis provides customers with design and manufacturing of industrial robotics systems, controls integration for robotic devices and robotic simulation software. Its robotics products include its SmartPick, a robotic bin picking device, and a new automated forklift.
Bastian Solutions, an Indianapolis-based firm that provides material handling systems and supply chain technology, has opened a new facility to house its robotics division in St. Louis.
Bastian has begun operating from its new 140,177-square-foot facility at 3143 Riverport Tech Center Drive in Maryland Heights. Bastian relocated its robotics operations from another site in Maryland Heights, at 2200 Forte Court, where it had about 80,000 square feet, said Jim Clark, Bastian’s president of manufacturing strategy and operations.
Describing itself as a “supply chain integration partner,” Bastian Solutions offers an array of material handling systems and automation technologies. Its robotics division in St. Louis provides customers with design and manufacturing of industrial robotics systems, controls integration for robotic devices and robotic simulation software. Its robotics products include its SmartPick, a robotic bin picking device, and a new automated forklift.
Bastian is part of Toyota Advanced Logistics, owned by Japan-based Toyota Industries Corp. Bastian established its robotics presence in St. Louis in 2005 with its acquisition of St. Louis-based Van Pak Corp., a packaging operations manufacturer. Bastian has 105 employees in the St. Louis region, according to the company.
Clark said Bastian’s expansion in St. Louis will help meet rising demand from customers for robotics systems. The new facility comes as Bastian said its revenue has grown rapidly recently, up 82% year over year in 2022. It did not disclose specific figures.
“As we’ve seen the business grow and demand for automation, it drove us to make this decision to move into a much larger facility and the start of expanding our operations,” Clark said. “Our customers are seeing the advantages of combining robotics into their warehousing systems.”
Clark said the robotics systems being provided by Bastian are getting larger and more complex, with its new facility allowing the company to have the space to both take on larger customer projects and adequately prepare them for customers.
“Part of our commitment to our customer is we don’t just build something, put it on a skid and ship it. We actually set these systems up, we do all the programming and testing of the systems to ensure we get first-time quality for our customers, as well as minimizing the impact on their site,” he said.
Bastian Solutions is leasing its new St. Louis facility, which is owned by Riverport Land Partners LLC, an entity affiliated with Kansas City-based commercial real estate company Block Real Estate Services LLC.
In addition to bolstering Bastian’s manufacturing capabilities, Clark said the new Maryland Heights facility also allowed the company to expand its office space and create a more modern open work environment, adding that Bastian had a desire to create a space that people “wanted to come work in.”
Clark declined to disclose Bastian’s total investment in its new facility. Documents filed with the city of Maryland Heights estimated construction costs at $11 million. The expansion is being supported by the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Missouri Works program, which helps businesses access capital through withholdings or tax credits in exchange for creating jobs. Bastian is eligible to receive up to $891,464 through the Missouri Works Program, according to the Department of Economic Development.
With its new facility, Clark said he expects Bastian’s St. Louis operations to grow in the future, noting the site will manufacture the company’s new automated forklift. While Clark said he expects headcount to grow locally, he said it’s too soon to know what that will entail.
“We’re going to let the market tell us what our headcount needs to be, but we do see that drive coming and are preparing for it,” he said.