Tailored Bottling's Dearborn plant is built for 750 million cans and bottles a year
Tailored Bottling Solutions' Dearborn, Michigan plant is designed for about 750 million beverage units a year but is still ramping up. Only 18 people work there today. Staffing up to three shifts, roughly 45 to 50 workers, sets how quickly beverage brands can use that capacity.
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Key facts, context, and what it means.
Key takeaways
Dearborn's 750 million-unit design runs on 18 workers today. Three full shifts need about 45 to 50, so headcount is the best public read on when full output arrives.
The Dearborn plant’s equipment is built for up to 750 million units a year, depending on the ramp.
TBS says its Miami site, TBS South, is fully operational and has completed large-scale runs and signed multi-year production agreements.
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Keep an eye on that last number. TBS is a contract beverage manufacturer and co-packer backed by Rucker Investments. Until staffing and output ramp up, 750 million is the most the equipment was built to do. How much of that a brand can book this quarter depends on the ramp.
Cans and PET in one building
The product list is broad. Besides custom carbonated soft drinks, TBS says the plant can make energy drinks, protein-based drinks, functional waters and prebiotic sodas.
In the TBS release, designed capacity is the output each line is built for at full capacity. The company expects both lines to run at or near planned speeds across three shifts once the plant is fully operational, so today's output is below the 750 million mark.
Burke also thanked the local utility, DTE (formerly Detroit Edison), and mentioned a personal visit from the Dearborn Fire Chief and his lieutenants. Neither detail says anything about output.
Dearborn next to Miami
TBS has described its TBS South site in Miami as fully operational. It said the site had finished multiple large-scale runs for a nationally distributed brand and had signed multi-year production agreements.
Two TBS plants, side by side
Tailored Bottling Solutions via EIN Presswire; PR Newswire
The Dearborn release describes the new plant as added Midwest beverage capacity, and it brings PET, which the Miami description doesn't mention.
Hiring before the first invoice
Cliff Rucker, founder of Rucker Investments, said in the release that the skills of experienced bottling professionals were essential to building the business, and that seeing the team grow has been rewarding. CEO Dave Burke pointed to Detroit's long manufacturing history and the experienced workers in the 313 area code.
At Dearborn, the path to 750 million units runs through hiring: 18 people work there today, and the company plans to grow to about 45 to 50 as it expands to three full shifts. The company hasn't broken the number down by role.
For brands looking at Dearborn: ask which shifts will be staffed in your production window, and whether your package runs on the can line, the PET line or both.
TBS has set its own finish line: both lines at or near planned speeds across three shifts. Headcount is the one public number that tracks progress toward it. As the staff count climbs from 18 toward the mid-40s, more of that 750 million-unit design should turn into slots a beverage brand's supply planner can actually put on a calendar.
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