Thrustmaster expanding Houston factory to meet growing customer needs

(HOUSTON) — Thrustmaster of Texas, a leading manufacturer of commercial marine propulsion products, signed a deal Monday to expand its Houston-based production facility by 100,000 square feet.

The multimillion-dollar investment has been in the making for two years and is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2015 by Third Coast General Contractors.  

The project includes plans to double the size of the product testing area, add an onsite paint and blast facility, develop a new fabrication shop, expand machine shop operations, expand the assembly area and add a multitude of upgrades that will lend to the efficiency and precision of thruster production.

An immediate benefit of the expansion is the hiring boost for the manufacturing sector of Houston’s economy as Thrustmaster expands its work force to meet the growing needs of its global customer network. 

Thrustmaster opened its current 200,000-square-foot thruster factory with total in house fabrication, machining, assembly, inspection and testing capabilities just five years ago on a 60-acre lot in northwest Houston.

In addition to our manufacturing and warehouse area, Thrustmaster’s Houston facility also has over 40,000 square feet of office space for our design engineering department and administration services.

Thrustmaster of Texas Inc. manufactures commercial marine propulsion and thruster products including deck-mounted propulsion units for barges, azimuthing thrusters in the form of z-drives and l-drives, retractable thrusters, waterjets, tunnel thrusters, and the patented portable dynamic positioning system. All products are manufactured in strict adherence to ISO-9001; 2000 edition standards. 

 “What sets us apart in the marine propulsion industry is our dedication to quality and the commitment to treating our customers as our business partners,” said Thrustmaster of Texas President Joe Bekker. “Not only do we know the marine market, we actively listen to our customer’s requirements and apply that knowledge to product development and improvement.”

With well over 1,000 thruster units in operation around the world, many of them of an exclusive design to suit a particular unique application, Thrustmaster demonstrates its dedication to design engineering excellence as well as comprehensive service after installation.

“At Thrustmaster, we constantly strive for the continuous improvement in the quality and value of our products,” said Bekker.

The factory and production of all thrusters is based out of Houston, with sales and support offices in Rotterdam, Singapore, Dubai, Brazil and China.

The dedicated employees of Thrustmaster of Texas share a common passion for building quality products that are known throughout the industry. We welcome the opportunity to serve you for all of your marine propulsion requirements.

This year has been a busy one for Thrustmaster — in February the company expanded its product lineup to include waterjets after acquiring the technology of DOEN Pacific. DOEN, a leading designer and manufacturer of water jet propulsion systems for the past 48 years based out of Australia, is one of five marine waterjet manufactures in the world building water jets up to 4,000 kW.

By Professional Mariner Staff