Investing in the customer innovation center

SANDUSKY — JBT Marel recently announced a significant renovation and expansion of its customer innovation center at the company's Sandusky manufacturing location, on First Street, with work scheduled to begin this month. At a minimum, it would be a $1.5 million investment for the building expansion. Formerly known as the food processing technology center, the Sandusky customer innovation center is one of three global JBT Marel facilities specifically designed to mirror customers' production lines for real-life testing and prototyping. In short, this center provides a test production facility simulation space where customers can test food machines and processes before they're made available to consumers. Sandusky also joins a broader network of 22 customer technology centers operating under the global JBT Marel umbrella. The approved project includes a 3,880-square-foot expansion east of the existing technical facility. A groundbreaking is planned for this month with construction expected to take between six and eight weeks. The new addition will expand the facility's capacity to demonstrate full-line capabilities in support of customers and their processes. The remaining space will continue to house a wide range of small and mid-size food production equipment, bringing the venue ever closer to offering end-to-end product demonstrations for customers. A legacy of innovation in Sandusky JBT Marel's Sandusky facility has a long history of innovation and customer collaboration in food processing where, in 1981, a need for a dedicated area within the facility was created to demonstrate food processing equipment to prospective customers. Prior to this, customer product trials could only be conducted when a machine became available on the manufacturing floor — an environment not well-suited for food testing. Thus the first food processing technology center was born. The concept quickly proved to be a major success and an effective sales tool, establishing the foundation for what would become today's customer innovation center. As the facility expanded, JBT Marel was able to install a complete batter, bread, fry and oven-cook line, which allowed customers to test and refine products, such as chicken fingers, cheese sticks and nuggets in a controlled, real-world environment. In 1996, JBT Marel completed a 30,000-square-foot building expansion to house a new, state-of-the-art food processing technology center. This increased the dedicated food processing area to 12,000 square feet, featuring: • Two separate test kitchens • Multiple conference areas • A fully equipped multimedia presentation area for classroom-style training Rebranded as the customer innovation center, the facility continues to serve as a vital sales and customer training tool. Today it supports more than 400 activities annually, including customer testing, process validation, training and ongoing support for JBT Marel's engineering and applications teams. A global hub for co-creation, customer support The Sandusky customer innovation center is designed to mirror customers' own production lines, enabling real-life testing and prototyping from concept to industrialization. The facility supports: • Co-creation of solutions to specific production challenges • Development of innovative products on an industrial scale • Showcase events targeted at specific industries, processes and further processing applications • Customer meetings, training sessions, and hospitality in a dedicated, professional environment Most importantly, the Sandusky plant is staffed by highly experienced personnel with deep technical and application knowledge, ensuring customers receive expert guidance throughout their testing and development journey. Bio blast JBT Marel is a global provider of innovative solutions for the food processing industry, offering integrated systems, equipment and services that help customers improve yield, quality and efficiency. Through a global network of customer innovation centers, JBT Marel collaborates closely with food processors to test, validate, and optimize processes under real-world conditions.