Saddle Creek will manage new Chinese manufacturing facility

Saddle Creek will manage new Chinese manufacturing facility Lakeland-based third-party logistics company Saddle Creek Corp. has been selected to manage the first U.S. manufacturing facility of the Chinese-owned company Nichiha USA Inc.
   Saddle Creek said it will manage warehousing, distribution and transportation services in the new, $78 million facility now under construction in Macon, Ga.
   “The opportunity to assist a very successful multinational company like Nichiha in executing its logistics and distribution strategy is exciting, challenging and in perfect alignment with Saddle Creek’s growth model,” said Doug Johnston, Saddle Creek’s vice president of operations. “We know that Nichiha’s product line has been well received in every new market they have entered, and we are confident that the company’s U.S. operations will grow and prosper. Saddle Creek and Nichiha share a strong focus on providing excellent customer service, and we look forward to moving into the future together.”
   The 300,000-square-foot plant will produce more than 100 million square feet of fiber cement products per year for the building industry.
   The plant is scheduled to begin production early in the fourth quarter of 2007.