U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

An Eye to the Future

With the help of: Enterprise Minnesota

About

Ultra Durable Technologies is an innovative floor coatings manufacturer specializing in epoxies, polyaspartics, urethanes, and polyurea compounds for commercial and industrial applications. This 18-person, family-owned company is located in Waite Park, Minnesota. Founded in 2008, their original product is a urethane alternative to traditional acrylic floor wax that is more durable, sustainable, and significantly reduces the required maintenance of the finished floors. Since coming to market, they have developed a robust line of specially formulated, contractor-grade floor coating solutions made entirely in the USA.

The Challenge

When Ultra Durable Technologies launched in 2008, they contracted out their product manufacturing, focusing instead on sales and distribution. In 2021, the Ultra Durable leadership purchased a building with the intention of bringing all manufacturing of their product in-house. As part of the transition to manufacturing, they sought support for developing a facility layout that optimized production flow, material and product storage, formula development space, staff and material safety, and future expansion. Ultra Durable also faced the challenge of transitioning the knowledge base of their employees to pivot from a distribution model to a production model. 

Engaging with Enterprise Minnesota has been valuable in many ways for our company. Not only in the facility layout process, but also for leadership development. It has been really valuable to learn about personality types, how to engage with employees, and work together more effectively.

Working with Enterprise Minnesota has been a positive experience. They’ve helped our company grow profitably. Knowing that Enterprise Minnesota is advocating for us and listening to our concerns is very helpful. It feels like we have a voice.

— Travis Negaard, Owner & CEO

MEP's Role

Enterprise Minnesota experts, part of the MEP National Network™, were invited to the company's old building and new prospect site to assess the spaces and production plans to help develop a framework for effectively utilizing their new building footprint. From Enterprise Minnesota’s flow analysis, Ultra Durable was able to define their chemical storage limits, water treatment needs and capacity, and security needs in addition to an optimized production layout. Using mapping software, the project team was able to create a facility layout that met Ultra Durable Technologies’ needs and allowed for future expansions. They have successfully transitioned into a robust manufacturing company with an expansive line of top-quality floor coating solutions.
Created November 2, 2024