Deloitte Honors CRG Automation as Fast-Growing Technology Company

CRG Automation ranks 68 on Deloitte Technology Fast 500

NOVEMBER 16, 2021 — LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY — The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 today recognized Louisville-based CRG Automation as part of its Fast 500 list of the fastest-growing technology companies.

Now in its 27th year, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 recognizes the most innovative, fastest-growing tech companies in North America, honoring those “that redefine the cutting edge, transform the way we do business, combine technological innovation and entrepreneurship, and disrupt the technology industry.”

CRG Automation achieved the ranking by recording 2,163% revenue growth over the past two years.

Among the accomplishments behind that increase was CRG Automation’s success with its first U.S. Department of Defense project, which began in 2019 and led the military to become a repeat customer. As those projects expanded, CRG Automation grew its team six-fold, from five employees to 30.

“We feel particularly honored that we’re tops among the 500 companies based in America to be recognized by Deloitte,” said CRG Automation President James DeSmet. “We’re proof that technology jobs shouldn’t be relegated to America’s coasts. We’re creating high-paying, rewarding employment in a region that drives America’s manufacturing industry.”

Over the past 18 months, CRG Automation’s engineers teamed up with the Department of Defense to overhaul the destruction of an aging stockpile of the Army’s most dangerous chemical weapons. The last and most deadly of their kind, the military’s M55 rockets have warped over time and become prone to leaking their deadly chemical agents. Staring down an aggressive 2023 destruction deadline, the U.S. government took an unprecedented step in mid-2019, rethinking the entire process with the goal of creating a more efficient and safe destruction process. Seeking automation expertise to enhance the use of robots instead of people, the government turned to CRG Automation, best known for building packaging lines for the likes of Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s and Kraft.

While the company continues to offer cartoners, case packers and other packaging equipment, CRG Automation now focuses primarily on advanced offerings such as robotic integrations and custom design-build equipment. That shift has taken place as repeat customers approached with more and more complex problems, leading the company’s team of engineers — with specialties such as mechanical, process and electrical — to devise custom engineered solutions, often incorporating advanced robotics.

The company’s 40,000-square-foot headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, features a controls and machine shop, plus the floor space required to build proofs of concept and set up and conduct performance testing for complete packaging and processing lines. Because CRG Automation understands each customer’s problem is unique, the company assigns an employee to oversee each project from beginning to end, so customers always have a single point of contact throughout design, fabrication, assembly, integration and testing.