NCI Building Systems Inc. today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, NCI Group, Inc., has opened its premier Metal Coaters coil coating facility at 2400 Yankee Road in Middletown

Previously operated by Material Sciences Corp., the facility was purchased in June 2010 for $4.9 million and has since been substantially revamped and modernized to become state-of-the-art.

Texas-based Metal Coaters, a division of Houston-based NCI Group, announced last February that its investment in the former metal coating plant totaled $15 million.

NCI Building Systems is one of the nation’s largest integrated manufacturers and marketers of metal coatings, components and buildings for nonresidential construction in North America.

The Middletown plant will apply paint to metal for NCI component and metal building product plants that make roofing, siding and other building materials, company officials said.

The opening represents the extension of NCI’s coil coating operations into the upper Midwest and Northeast, which will effectively provide the Company’s Buildings and Components groups with more cost-effective regionalized access to coated products and services.

With the Middletown plant, the coil coating segment now operates four strategically located light-gauge, coil coating facilities providing maximum supply chain flexibility for its customers, bringing the total number of NCI manufacturing facilities to 38.

“The commencement of our Middletown operations signifies an important milestone in our strategy to evolve our position of market leadership through high-value acquisitions,” said Norman Chambers, NCI’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “We are confident this facility will provide numerous advantages to all three of our business segments by expanding our ability to serve new and existing customers economically and expeditiously.”