Surface preparation Wheelabrator Group announced it will consolidate its North American operations and create a regional hub at its LaGrange facility. It plans to shut down its Burlington, Ontario and transition to LaGrange by the end of 2018.

Mechelle McCrary, Wheelabrator marketing and communications director, said there is currently more than 100 employees at the LaGrange location and more than 40 in Burlington. It was unclear if the move will result in more jobs at the LaGrange facility.

“It will have an impact,” McCrary said. “Right now, were focused on the Burlington, Ontario facility.”

Wheelabrator serves industries who are involved in steel manufacturing in some way. Its operations include preparing metals before they are manufactured into vehicles for car manufacturers or preparing ship metal before being constructed for a shipyard.

“Our industries that we service, our customers include foundries, the automotive industry, railway, airspace,” McCrary said.

McCrary said they are consolidating the locations to help meets customer’s needs.

“That’s the type of landscape that’s within the fabrication industry right now,” McCrary said. “We think this move will better benefit our customers and the productivity of our organization.”

McCrary said the LaGrange location has a been operating since 1987.

“The good news is that the LaGrange facility will be a centralized hub for both our sales and engineering operations,” McCrary said. “It will also have our lab. So, it will be a place for sales and service operations, engineering, technology development and a customer application lab.”

Wheelabrator has another location in Monterrey, Mexico. McCrary said they plan to expand operations there as well.