- When Tropical Storm Helene brought torrential rain and high winds to Fletcher, NC last week, the RFID companies that operate there were spared significant damage.
- Utilities are still down for the area where Tageos, Avery-Dennison Smartrac and label company UPM Raflatac operate, but Tageos is already planning resumption of production.
Some North Carolina companies in the Asheville area were impacted by Hurricane Helene but appeared to have miss the brunt of the damage. A set of firms —where RFID inlays, labels and materials are produced, developed and sold—expect to restore operations in the coming week or weeks. Just how long they are back in operation will depend on the surrounding infrastructure.
Tageos, UPM Raflatac and Avery Dennison Smartrac all operated in an industrial complex a mile-and-a-half from the Asheville Airport in Fletcher. Last week, wind gusts were clocked at 70 mph and the nearby French Broad River rose at least 21 feet. Flood stage begins at 9.5 feet.
The storm came in on Thursday and stalled, leaving an unprecedented amount of destruction behind it. After the storm passed, most roads and highways were closed, and non-emergency travel was prohibited. People evacuating Asheville were able to use Interstates 40 or 26 east toward Tennessee.
Tageos Facility Spared Serious Damage
The largest of the company sites in the Quality Point industrial complex is the manufacturing facility that Tageos opened in May. The factory suffered no direct damage, said Chris Hykin, Tageos’ general manager.
Following inspection, “equipment, buildings and machinery, including the warehouse, remained intact without flooding or other impact. However, electricity, gas, water and telecommunications are still partially out as of Tuesday morning local time,” he said.
By Tuesday, the company was able to account for all its staff members and “everyone was safe and well, although many were personally affected by the disaster,” added Hykin.
“Fortunately, our facility and, even more importantly, our employees were spared the worst. This is why we’re confident that things will stabilize over the next few days and that we’ll be able to resume production by the end of the week. Of course, that depends on local utilities being up and running and on roads and transportation routes being open,” Hykin said.
RFID and Label-Centered City
Tageos operates in the former home of automotive company Continental where hydraulic brake systems were made. The European-headquartered Tageos brought its RFID inlay production closer to many of its North American customers and partners when it opened its factory here. It employs at least 65 people in the 60,000 square-foot space, with the expectation of 100 hires by end of year. The company has been producing inlays at a projected rate of about two billion per-year, with plans to double that rate again next year.
Fletcher itself is an RFID-centered city. It is home to Avery Dennison Smartrac’s RFID office as well as label company UPM Raflatac. In fact, the companies benefit from a close proximity to many customers—solution providers and label converters—as well as the local presence of universities and skilled workers in the high tech environment.
UPM RFID opened its location in 2005 and then sold its RFID business to Smartrac in 2012, after which Smartrac was purchased by Avery Dennison in 2020 and continues to operate there. In the meantime, UPM Raflatac operates in Fletcher as well, making sustainable label materials.
A UPM Raflatac employee did not respond to detailed questioning, due to spotty communication, but indicated that the site did not sustain significant damage.