Serta, Simmons open Canadian factory to make both brands
Plant near Toronto has capability to add capacity

FurnitureToday.com
Dec. 1, 2014
Michael J. Knell

The parent company of bedding majors Serta Canada and Simmons Canada has opened its first-ever joint mattress manufacturing plant in this community on the northern border of Toronto.

The facility was built by Serta Simmons Canada Bedding Holdings, the Canadian subsidiary of A.O.T. Bedding Super Holdings, the company created by the Boston-based investment firm Advent International when it acquired majority ownership of both Simmons and Serta in late 2012.

The factory “will have the capacity to produce product for all Ontario customers for both Serta and Simmons,” the company said in a statement earlier this year.

For the past few weeks, the factory has been producing all of Serta Canada’s product offerings to retailers in this country, including the iComfort and iSeries collections as well as the Perfect Sleeper. The building also houses Serta Canada’s administration and sales staff as well as a 6,000-square-foot showroom and an adjoining 6,000-square-foot private presentation space.

Serta’s research and development department remains at it corporate head office in Chicago.

“We’re making everything we sell here,” Les Channell, Serta Canada national sales manager, said in an interview.

Simmons Canada’s administration and sales continue to be located at its head office in nearby Mississauga, Ontario. Its corporate office in Atlanta has its research and development team.

The new Vaughan assembly line is expected to begin building product for Simmons Canada’s contract division this month. The rest of its line will be introduced to the facility over the coming months. Currently, most of Simmons Canada’s product for retailers in Ontario is made at its factory in Kirkland, Quebec.

Channell said the 250,000-square-foot Vaughan facility is already working full-out and the company is looking to take on more production staff over the coming weeks.

The company’s old plant in nearby Concord, Ontario, has been closed. Serta Canada also operates production facilities in Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

Channell said the new plant will give his operation new growth opportunities as for the first time the Canadian operation will be able to produce Serta’s entire lineup

The new Vaughan facility will also be one of several Serta factories across North America that will adopt new automation technology. The project, which is being launched at the company’s West Palm Beach, Fla., facility, should see this new computer-aided manufacturing equipment installed before the end of 2017.

“This plant was built ahead of the technology and should be able to accommodate it quite nicely,” Channell said.

Without disclosing specifics, he said the new factory will greatly expand both Serta’s and Simmons’ production capacity, an advantage neither has really enjoyed over the past few years. Currently, it is a one-shift operation, but Channell said the plant probably will add production staff and shifts over the next few years.