GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Knape & Vogt said it will expand its Grand Rapids manufacturing operations to move some of its furniture drawer slide production from Taiwan to Grand Rapids.

The expansion investment includes the consolidation of the newly acquired John Sterling Corporation plant in Richmond, IL, to Knape & Vogt's Michigan headquarters.

KV currently buys its office furniture slide products from third party suppliers in Taiwan. Production is scheduled to begin later this year.

The consolidation of John Sterling will relocate manufacturing, distribution, and administration functions to KV’s existing facilities and will result in the closing of the existing John Sterling operations in Illinois and Wisconsin. Woodworking Network previously reported K&V would invest $1.4 million in the expansion of Michigan operations.

“Our new drawer slide manufacturing capability couples a significant investment in automation with lean manufacturing principles to allow us to provide excellent quality products to our office furniture customers at prices that compete with Asian suppliers.” said Peter Martin, president and CEO of Knape & Vogt. “The John Sterling consolidation leverages our existing Grand Rapids manufacturing base but, more importantly, allows us to more effectively service our customers and sell the combined companies’ product lines as one organization to drive future growth for our business.”