Sonoco Products Company has invested just over $25 million since 2024 to expand its Wood Reels manufacturing and assembly footprint, responding to a surge in demand for power and communications cable packaging driven by AI data center growth and power grid modernization.
The investments have grown the company's manufacturing capacity and footprint by more than 30% across the Hartselle, Alabama, and Jefferson, Texas, sites, with the Hartselle expansion adding roughly 15% incremental nailed wood manufacturing capacity at that site and increasing manufacturing floorspace by about 33%. The project also includes upgraded quality inspection systems and advanced manufacturing technology to improve throughput and consistency.
James Harrell, President of Sonoco Global Industrial Paper Packaging, stated that the investments strengthen the company's ability to deliver reliable, local service to customers across key growth markets while improving manufacturing quality and capacity.
Sonoco ships manufactured reel components to a nationwide network of 22 assembly centers across the country, where reels are assembled and shipped to customers.