Business View Magazine l November 2022

94 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 11 K nown for their thermal properties, flexibility, and aesthetic appeal, insulated metal panels (IMPs) have a wide range of uses, encompassing walls, ceilings, and roofs. This versatility was noted some 15 years ago when contractors in the Netherlands decided to launch their own operation in this field, subsequently moving across the Atlantic to set up in North America. The result was FALK Panel. Settling up operations in the area around Grand Rapids, Michigan, the ownership has worked hard to respect the heritage and cultural beliefs of the Dutch business environment. “The Grand Rapids area has a large Dutch population,” Mark Munley, VP of Sales at FALK Panel, explains. “The company owners were able to benefit from the existing relationships they had here. They knew the area and felt it was important for them to start operations in a location where they could enjoy the support of family and friends. For those reasons, Grand Rapids was the obvious choice.” FALK Panel’s facility is roughly around 24 acres in total, situated in Walker, which is between seven and 10 miles from Grand Rapids. It remains one of the most sophisticated IMP manufacturing facilities in North America or perhaps even the world. “Our first line is located in a manufacturing facility that is 900 feet in length and roughly 150 feet wide,” Munley continues. “It is fully automated, requiring less than 10 people to run the operation. It is highly mechanized, with some of the equipment monitored by our vendors in Europe so they can look at various systems and make tweaks as needed.”