Great thread idea.
TF System is made in Wisconsin, and also has poly plants all over the us.
Fox is Nebraska
Nudra is Canada
Logix is made in Winnipeg Canada and marketed out of MN
Reward is made out of Nebraska also I think.
This is off the top of my head and some may have moved.

This table provides some of the info you are looking for:

http://www.icfmag.com/images/2009-01/ICF_comp_pg1.pdf

That does answer it for the ones that actually put the manufacturing location.  Wonder why some like Arxx just list a number of locations without specifying where?  

 

Thank you,

Bruce

Sorry I didn't post the whole article which explains what those numbers are:

"...the chart lists the location of US and Canadian molding facilities by their 2-digit postal code abbreviation."

http://www.icfmag.com/current_issue.html

From discussions in the past here, most blocks are molded by contract molders. Knowing the location of a plant would be useful only if you're going to take delivery at the plant, or are calculating shipping costs. In that case once a block mfr has an order from you they most likely will tell you where it's coming from.

The contract molders make blocks for more than one company. A company, like in my case Buildblock, doesn't really want you to visit the plant because you may see a competitor's product there, or they don't want you as their customer to visit the plant on your own without a company rep going along. Company reps are probably not available most of the time to do that.

I suspect most block company bosses see little to be gained, other than headaches, by advertising where their blocks are being made, so they don't.

Buildblock web site has a map showing in what cities their molders are located, but they don't tell you who the molder is.

The "smoke and mirrors" is really tedious with several green material manufacturers. If it were all out in the open maybe green building technology could be more competitive, and gain a bigger foothold in the general market.

I agree that most icf products are contract mfg. The issue comes from there side, our plant mfg. Reward, Standard, and our Rhino block all in the same machine and they are stored side by side in the wharehouse. They do not want anyone but licensed trucking to pick up the product, and if you want the answer for that it is very simple LIABILITY. We live in a very litigious society these days and because the saftey rules in these plants tend to be very specific they just do not want anybody wandering around there plant.

Most Icf product out there now is mfg. in the states Logix has several plants mfg we have one here in Minnesota, our Rhino block is produced in Wis, Mn, Ut, and Ohio. The purpose for this is to reduce the cost of shipping to your location, in some instances the cost of trucking can add a $1 - $5 to the form cost.

The non listed mfg. location is not smoke and mirrors at all and knowing the location of the mfg. would not increase or decrease the advancment of green tech, and most companies would tell you where your forms will come from with out hesitation as you would find out any how when you recieve the product and the shipping label is attached.

However attempting to contact those mfg. entities direct would be a waste of time as they know who there contacts are and would not talk with you anyhow. This is the voice of experiance as occasionally our customers contact the factory direct to try and arrange shipping and they always get told that they can not arrange shipping direct and that they must go through the company that they are buying the forms from. We have even found that trucking companies that try and call direct with out a tracking number get told to contact the correct people.

"smoke and mirrors"?? Really?? Come on people, Block companies are not trying to fool anybody about where they come from. Its just not an issue. Not all blocks are going to be the "closest" for everyone but most of the major manufacturers have blocks being made so they are strategicaly located to best service most of their customers. As ICFs do get more main stream we will see more locations to reach more of us. I know a couple of companies will help pay the freight to soften the blow if they are not close enough. As far as going to the plants to pick up products, I have picked up forms at 3 different plants myself. You just have to go through the proper channels. That is certainly not the norm and I am sure they do not want the public showing up just for liability and logistical reasons. Most ICF companies are very professional as are the companies that manufacture the blocks.  

Smoke & mirrors.......Really? Does anyone ask where there 2xs are milled? Most companies ship from mfrg. plant to job location because most of their orders are not local. Kind of hard to manufacture within 100 miles of every city in the U.S.

Just because a company doesn't offer the option of will call is no reason not to use a particular form, especially if you are close enough to will call the product - is the $450 shipping cost per truck really going to cut into margin? And if you are not ordering enough to fill a truck you probably shouldn't be ordering mfrg. direct anyways, and don't have enough purchasing power for a company to accomodate special requests. Sorry

Also, if you are able to will call product from mfrg facility, you have already signed a purchase order and are not going to be able to swap for a different ICF at the facility (if they mold multiple forms) and as long as pricing is fair market cost, and the product works well on your project, and you have sufficient tech support, there should be no reason for you to switch for your next project anyways. In most cases you should have probably already done the research and known that other forms were available "locally"