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RUF expands in the USA
Manufacturer of briquetting systems to establish new location in Ohio
On September 18, 2024, Ruf Maschinenbau broke ground for a new company building in North Ridgeville, Ohio, for its US subsidiary, RUF US. Starting at the end of 2025, all sales, service, and repair for the American market will be handled there. Assembly of briquetting systems is also planned for this location.
Many companies have already tried to make the leap into the USA – not all with the desired success. Roland Ruf, CEO of Ruf Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG, Zaisertshofen, Germany, has managed to establish his company there bit by bit. He knows what’s important: “Basically, you need patience and you have to look at the market very closely. We were actually already interested in 1990, but we viewed USA cautiously and first sold a briquetting system there.”
Along with selected dealers and service partners, the company ramped up its US business and identified the specific needs of the potential customers there. The next step followed in 2008: In North Olmsted, Ohio, Ruf set up its first subsidiary at rented premises – with its own employees. Seven years later (2015), Ruf invested in its own building in Elyria, some 20 kilometers away, and now employs 11 people there, generating revenue of around USD 6 million.
Steady growth leads to a new company building
Like it does in Germany, the owner family attaches great importance to steady, well-calculated growth in the USA, and that has succeeded so far. For this reason, on September 18, 2024, the ground was broken for a new company building not even three kilometers away from the current site. “We have reached the capacity limits at our current location. And because expansion is no longer possible there, we are now building on a greenfield site,” explains Roland Ruf.
Starting at the end of 2025, the steadily rising demand should be better served from there than is currently possible. Especially when it comes to delivery times in the USA, the company head still sees room for improvement: “Our warehouse capacities in Elyria are currently pretty limited. Also, we first manufacture all machines required there at our main plant and then ship them. That takes time, and we are going to change that.”
This means that Ruf is building an assembly line at the new location to supplement sales and service. Additional employees will be responsible for the test runs and final acceptance testing of the briquetting systems. There are also plans to build a component manufacturing facility to supplement the assembly line in the new space over the medium term. Roland Ruf says: “This will be done step by step, at a speed ensuring that we always achieve the same quality that we do with the systems from Germany.”
The engineer with MBA isn’t worried about the economic future of his company, either in the USA or in Germany. With his briquetting systems, he is contributing to saving resources and improving sustainability. Additionally, experience has shown that the RUF machines break even in one or two years, so the customers’ investments pay off quickly.
Against this backdrop, Roland Ruf expects that the new US location will more than double its revenues in just a few years – with a much higher level of vertical integration. This is also good news for the main plant in Zaisertshofen, because the utilization rate is also very high here, and demand is rising. The CEO also knows that the increasing international competition will bring even more stability to the entire company and secure jobs at all locations.
