Sheffield based Sukup Manufacturing Company is acquiring Ramco Innovations, a West Des Moines company that specializes in factory automation.
Sukup is the world’s largest family-owned manufacturer of grain storage, grain handling and grain drying equipment. Emily Schmitt, Sukup’s Chief Administrative Officer, says Ramco has been a high-tech vendor since 1998.
“They’re very trusted in the industry and as Sukup is looking towards how we can serve our farm customers the best, we know that labor issues are tight and automating the farm is a priority, but ag is one of the lagging industries for adoption,” Schmitt says. “so we this acquisition to then jump start and get our ag tech offerings for the farm where we need it to be.”
Schmitt says Ramco has done work at Sukup facilities in Sheffield, Manly and Hampton. “They’ve actually worked on some of our manufacturing cells,” Schmitt says. “We’re automating them and integrating with robots on our plant floor.”
Hank Norem, Ramco’s CEO, will be chief innovation officer for a new division of the Sheffield company called Sukup Innovations. Ramco’s 65 employees will continue to work at Ramco’s facility in West Des Moines.
“The more we started talking with Hank at Ramco, it just really got how much we could help each other,” Schmitt says. “Hank and I are both on a similar board, so we were at a board meeting, had previously talked right before it was starting, saying, ‘Oh, well, would Ramco be interested in coming under Sukup,’ and when he said, ‘Yes,’ I scribbled down four different ways we could make it happen. After the meeting, scribbled it down, gave it to him and so we have a nice little memento.”
Schmitt’s family recently discovered the original drawings her grandfather and company founder Eugene Sukup made of his first inventions. Sukup has more than 800 employees.
(Reporting by Brian Fancher, KLMJ, Hampton)