Blackline Safety announces $2 million investment to enhance manufacturing capacity

Blackline Safety recently announced it has added Surface Mount Technology (SMT) to its in-house production line to meet the expected strong customer demand for its products in 2022.

The company invested $2 million over the last three years to increase the manufacturing horsepower. This prepares it for high-volume production of G6, its entry-level single-gas wearable safety device being launched this year.

The current capacity as well as this investment is expected to help the company double its hardware production in 2022.

“With SMT we build on our already robust manufacturing technology and facility alongside additional flexibility to quickly respond to increased demand—all while maintaining product excellence,” says Kevin Meyers, Blackline Safety chief operating officer. “Having SMT to place components on a printed circuit board line allows us not only to produce units more quickly and with greater precision, it’s also a layer of much tighter control of our manufacturing process.”

Blackline states that bringing SMT in-house has reduced its assembly and ship times from up to five weeks to 24 to 48 hours. The company finds it cost-effective as well, realizing payback on the equipment in just 10 months.

“Since we’ve been building product with SMT in-house, we’ve seen our hardware sales volume grow by 350%. In addition, our quality levels have been exceptional, programming and job set-ups are easy, and our team has been able to rapidly develop and deploy new products,” added Meyers. “Because of the vital safety aspect of our products, they simply can’t fail — exceptional manufacturing quality and in-field reliability are non-negotiable.”