WALKER, MI — Tooling Systems Group (TSG), an advanced manufacturing company, has recently completed the construction of a custom-designed facility in collaboration with Ada-based developer Honeycrisp Ventures. TSG's journey began with their commitment to the project in December 2022, and achieving occupancy of the 200,000-square-foot facility in October 2023, marking a completion time of less than a year for Specialty Tooling Systems (STS) group.

Drew Boersma, CEO of TSG, credits the fast-track to the efficient, organized approach of Honeycrisp Ventures and its partnership with design-build contractors Wolverine Building Group, headquartered in Grand Rapids. “[They] were easy to work with, produced quality on-time results, and tackled every challenge with decisive action.”

While the industrial real estate landscape is still facing backlogs of projects across the region, leadership at Honeycrisp is not experiencing the same hurdles. “We take a thoughtful approach with each client, applying practical solutions alongside creative thinking to answer the need,” said Ben Sietsema, Owner of Honeycrisp Ventures. “When we’re able to think outside the box, we can see past the obstacles and keep moving forward. We’re already breaking ground on STS’ next building.”

Honeycrisp’s approach was not the only factor in hitting these milestones for TSG. Wolverine Building Group provided the design-build path with a custom engineered building planned for the specific needs of STS group. “The design-build process offers the client answers before problems even appear,” said Curt Mulder, CEO of Wolverine. “We were able to plan for change with this project. Advanced manufacturing needs constant adaptation from their buildings to achieve success, and our team was able to construct this building to meet that goal.”

This design-build approach was utilized for the application of advanced manufacturing assembly solutions. The building features complete climate control, which is unusual for an industrial building. The facility was engineered for overhead cranes that will be moving robotic cells in and out of the building for end use implementation.

“It’s essential for our side of the equation to rely on the expertise of the developers and construction. Honeycrisp and Wolverine hit every date, were easy to work with, with a quality project that fit every need,” Boersma said. “Less noise on our side of the fence made it an easy decision keep moving forward with these expansions.”

TSG’s next building has plans for 45,000 square feet of new industrial space and is adjacent to the current building housing STS’s advanced manufacturing cells.