Modula US Expansion

When Modula, a leading manufacturer of automated storage solutions, required an expansion to its 242,000 SF manufacturing facility, the company had a clear vision: double production capacity, consolidate operations from multiple locations, and do it without losing a day of production. Modula brought Miller Valentine Construction in as a design-build partner to assist with the process of building an addition that complements the existing facility.

Cost Saving Opportunities

Miller Valentine worked to identify cost-saving opportunities early, including collaborating with the County Plans Examiner to reclassify the building. The original classification assumed the presence of hazardous materials and required more stringent fire ratings. By reclassifying the building, those requirements were eliminated, avoiding a significant increase in expansion costs. This proactive coordination ultimately delivered substantial savings.

The existing facility was equipped with roughly three times the power capacity and more electrical redundancy than Modula needed, resulting in higher utility and maintenance costs. Miller Valentine identified an opportunity to consolidate the system. This approach allowed Modula to install new switchgear and a transformer at a substantially lower cost, while also reducing utility expenses over the next decade.

Schedule

Schedule certainty was also a top priority. The February 2025 groundbreaking was delayed by snow and in total, the project lost 23 days to snow and rain, yet the team still managed to achieve substantial completion more than a week ahead of schedule. With equipment arriving from Modula’s Maine facility and plans to ramp up production by mid-May 2026, there was no margin for delay. Beating the schedule was only part of the challenge. Throughout construction, Modula never stopped running.

Outcome

The expansion gives Modula what it set out to achieve: a single, purpose-built home for its U.S. production, with room to grow. With the capacity to produce up to 1,600 vertical lift modules annually, Modula is positioned to meet North American demand at a pace its previous footprint never could have supported.

Modula USA

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