Reinke Manufacturing invests $12 million into robotics

WOOD RIVER, Neb. (KSNB) - Reinke Manufacturing will be investing $12 million into advancing robotics. Reinke is testing out a 19 robot cell and President Chris Roth said this is important because the pipe cell they have now is aging out, so they have reinvest in themselves to make what Roth calls ‘the world’s finest irrigation system’.

There will be 19 robots working together to weld the water pipes on pivots. They would roll the pipe into the cell and then the process begins with welding the flanges on the end and the angle iron underneath.

It also cuts the hole for water to come out and then welds the coupler on there for the sprinkler. Roth said this investments doesn’t mean people will be out of a job.

“It does not displace any workers,” said Roth. “Actually, what this does is this gives the opportunity whenever we do this, this gives us the opportunity to upskill current employees so we can provide better jobs to current employees. so we provide training to them, they’re the ones that operate this and then that provides them better jobs.”

Roth said this upgrade will help provide jobs within Reinke across Nebraska.

“What we do from our factory in Deshler, is we pull zip codes from 60 or 70 zip codes in south central Nebraska or north central Kansas for jobs at our factory in Deshler,” said Roth. “But the other thing we have to keep in mind is we’ve got 30 dealers across the state of Nebraska. Every one of those dealerships provide jobs; they also then spend money in their local economies.”

Roth said this will increase the efficiency in which they produce product, because they will going from 12 robots to 19. It also helps farmers when they encounter a drought.

“A lot of guys when they plant they plant their crops they’re anticipating a certain amount of moisture for those crops and if mother nature is not going to provide the inches that they need then this helps them get to those inches that they need in order to develop that crop.

Roth said they have seen years where it’s a struggle for farmers to grow crops, making reliable irrigation a need. Reinke has hundreds of dealers in more than 40 countries. The project is expected to be complete by May 2025.