Bensalem, Pennsylvania-based Advanced Lubrication Specialties received a loan through the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority to acquire a 121,000 square foot building to consolidate its current warehouse.
The $2 million loan given to Bucks County, where ALS is headquartered, will help finance a $6.7 million expansion of distribution and warehouse capabilities. The building is located next to the companys blending plant in Bensalem and is currently a general purpose warehouse, Greg Julian, president of ALS, told Lube Report. We will be consolidating our two warehouses to the new building, which will make room for a lube blending and packaging expansion in our current facility.
The bigger facility will allow the lubricant manufacturer to respond to the changing needs of customers, Julian said, explaining that there has been a shift from…general products to more specialized fluids, whether they are OEM-specific fluids or special formulations for customers.
The added complexity is requiring additional tanks and inventory for these products.The new PC-11 fluids is a good example of the fragmentation occurring within the industry, he added. API recently adopted PC-11, the latest heavy-duty engine oil category that upon implementation was renamed API CK-4 and FA-4. It is the first API standard that includes two categories – one that is backwards compatible with previous standards and a fuel-economy category that is not.
With this acquisition, ALS plans tocontinue expanding its business, which primarily serves the United States but also has presence in Europe and Latin America. We will continue to expand our operations in the U.S. and will continue to grow our export business, said Julian.
Advanced Lubrication Specialties was founded in 1984 as the Junell Corp. and manufactures a number of lubricant and specialty petroleum products under its Advantage brand. These include motor oils for passenger cars and diesel-powered heavy-duty trucks, transmission, hydraulic and metalworking fluids, gear lubricants and other industrial oils, as well as transformer and specialty oils and paraffinic and naphthenic process oils.