Norwalt is a family-owned business started in 1971 by Norbert Seitel and Walter McDonald. Today, they have two facilities, including their headquarters and manufacturing in Randolph, N.J., and another manufacturing facility in Tampa, Fla. The business is run by the sons and grandsons of the founders. Initially, Norwalt was focused on high-speed custom feeder systems for consumer packaged goods manufacturing lines and deodorant assembly machinery, but today have significantly expanded their offerings and reach.

They started by working with the injection molders where the machines would sit. Their customers include household names like Gillette, Proctor and Gamble, Unilever, etc., that would hire them and move their machines to their molders, where Norwalt would then implement some sort of needed process. They would then package it and then ship it to the ultimate product manufacturing line. According to Kyle Seitel, Technical Operations Manager, “We had our own unique space in the industry, still working mostly with CPGs and other beauty brands. Then COVID hit and that changed everything.” One of their customers, an injection molder, who worked with them for a very long time had opened up a medical division and they needed a 48-week project, but they needed it in 12 weeks. It was for Abbott Labs, and the government was involved, adding additional pressures and requirements. The project included PCR test tubes, and they had to figure out how to use a vision system to check for defects in the tubes, handle the capping and packaging, and then add track-and-trace serialization. They completed the system on time, which had a speed of 400 units per minute as opposed to the existing which was 80 per minute. It was a big learning experience and as a result, today, they have expanded their offerings and reach to develop a lot of different systems, with their whole niche being custom high speed machinery.

Norwalt has since expanded further into life sciences, as a result of COVID pandemic work, including producing rapid COVID tests collaborating with Thermo Fisher on pipette manufacturing for blood testing. Norwalt’s recent innovations are focused on adaptive machinery for the “factory of the future” including high-speed direct-to-object printing aimed at providing end-to-end production solutions for customers.