D & S Manufacturing (www.dsmfg.com) commenced an extensive, $6.4 million expansion of its production facilities in early June.

The expansion was more than two years in the planning, and is designed to increase the company's production space by 50 percent, according to Michael Dougherty, president.

Dougherty said increased sales over the past several years made the expansion necessary.

In addition, he said the expansion is expected to improve his company's efficiency.

“The improvements will help us to contain costs and maximize the speed and efficiency of the manufacturing process while providing the framework for future growth,” Dougherty said.

With the expanded work area, D & S Manufacturing expects to increase its workforce by 33 percent, Dougherty said.

The additional square footage will allow D&S to add a new vertical machining center and a new welding robot to address larger components with a broader spectrum of design requirements. In addition, the company will have a higher ceiling height so that it can work on projects that are currently not within its capabilities.

D&S Manufacturing is a custom manufacturer of large scale components, assemblies and complete weldments for a broad cross section of corporations that include Caterpillar, Oshkosh Corp., The Trane Co., and Parkson. Its capabilities include machining, laser, high definition plasma and oxy-fuel cutting, manual and robotic welding, painting, shot blasting, assembly and testing. The company is located in Black River Falls, Wis., and is more than 40 years old.