Lucas Oil last week announced that it will open a grease production unit at its lubricant factory in Indiana later this summer.
The company did not disclose the size or cost of the project but said it aimed to help fill a national grease shortage that has impacted multiple industries since supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a news release Lucas said its greases will be marketed to several industries, including manufacturing, engineering, maintenance, construction, transportation, fleet and automotive.
“Bringing a dedicated grease plant online was a strategic decision to increase our production capabilities and have a specialized space that can help increase our output, efficiency and ability to develop more advanced formulations,” Lucas Oil CEO Morgan Lucas said in the release.
The new grease production capability occupies about 25,000 square feet in its existing 400,000 square foot facility in Corydon, Indiana, which includes an ISO-certified research and development lab, blending and production lines.
The company said the new plant will be dedicated to manufacturing its signature grease brands: Red ‘N’ Tacky, X-Tra Heavy Duty, and Marine. Lucas noted that it reformulated the Red ‘n’ Tacky grease to use calcium sulfonate as a thickener instead of lithium, which it claims provides better performance in several areas.
Research for the new Red ‘N’ Tacky grease was performed at the company’s Corydon laboratory, which also handles quality control responsibilities for all products produced in both of its Corydon manufacturing facilities.