Set along the US-224 corridor in Ottawa, OH, Nelson Manufacturing‘s office and trailer finishing facility stands as a testament to the company’s history, future, and commitment to Putnam County, where it has operated for nearly 80 years. With architecture led by Technicon Design Group and construction managed by WCI, this specialty trailer provider has added a safe, strategic facility supporting critical stages of its production cycle.
Covering 80,000 square feet, the processing facility includes:
The production floor places blast, bake, paint, and assembly booths in an end-to-end sequence. Across the entire line, a large conveyor system moves raw materials and equipment to each station for processing. Once final assembly is completed, overhead cranes move finished trailers to the doors, where they are hooked up and hauled away for transport. This layout allows workers to move efficiently through each phase of production, reducing downtime between stages.
“When you’re dealing with manufacturing, that whole design process is really dynamic. With any building, you’re always considering how people move through the space.” – David Burgei, Architect, Technicon Design Group
Attached to the manufacturing area is an office suite complete with meeting rooms, break area, worker storage lockers, cubicles, and a front desk.
“When we first discussed the office portion, it was going to be a separate building. As we kept exploring options, we found it was really beneficial to bring this all under one roof. The office portion acts as the front door to basically all of Nelson’s campus, so we wanted to be something that kind of stood out from the rest of the building but still was cohesive to the whole.” – David Burgei, Architect, Technicon Design Group
Through Technicon’s intentional design approach, the owner and stakeholders selected a building arrangement that best served their production and administrative needs while maximizing worker safety.
Installed just inside the facility entryway are two engraved plaques. One reads “Nelson Trailers,” while the other states “In memory of John M. Nelson, Virginia B. Nelson, and John M. Nelson II.” The Nelson family founded and managed the business from 1947 through 1990. Tragedy struck in 1979, when John and Virginia Nelson passed away in a plane crash, leaving their son John to assume sole ownership of the company. He later also passed away in a plane crash in 1990.
“We wanted to honor our legacy. There was an old sign out front that served as a memorial to the Nelson family, and we wanted to preserve that as part of the company’s history. We also wanted employees to see it every day and be reminded that we’re here because of them.” – Tony Niese, President, Nelson Manufacturing
Thanks to strong collaboration between project partners and ownership, Nelson Manufacturing now has a facility equipped to fabricate specialty trailers more efficiently as the company expands its operations.
