South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley joined Bosch Rexroth Americas President Berend Bracht and executives from Robert Bosch LLC to formally mark the start of production at the company's newly expanded hydraulics manufacturing campus in Fountain Inn.
Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Bosch Rexroth is investing $80 million over five years to expand production in the new campus and convert an existing 260,000-square-foot industrial warehouse into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that will initially produce the industry-leading Rexroth A10VO hydraulic pump. The pump is used in a variety of applications, including mobile construction and agricultural machinery, mining, materials handling and heavy industries such as steel and automotive production.
With the addition of the new building, "Building 103," Bosch Rexroth has doubled its production capabilities at the location, making the Fountain Inn campus its largest hydraulics manufacturing site in the Americas.
"The Bosch investment for expanded production in Fountain Inn increases our ability to serve the needs of our local and regional customers," says Bracht. "In turn, this enhances their opportunity to participate in industrial and mobile equipment markets on a global basis, drawing on the support of a partner like Bosch Rexroth that is recognized around the world for superior technology, reliability, applications expertise and service."
Governor Haley praised the company for its decision to invest in South Carolina. "We truly value the commitment Bosch has made to be a part of our state's business community, and we are excited to see them invest in South Carolina," she said. "We celebrate the 160 new jobs the company will create with this campus and look forward to its continued success."
Building 103 is just the latest example of Bosch Rexroth's strategy to invest locally to serve global customers in key markets, and also to increase its market share in the Americas. Both strategies are seen as critical to long-term global growth for the company. Other recent programs contributing to The Drive & Control Company's growth include the expansion of its Charlotte, NC, linear motion and assembly products facility; a new Houston Service Center dedicated to serving Gulf of Mexico oil and gas exploration; and the GoTo Focused Delivery Program, which provides industry-best lead times for delivery of more than 3,500 in-demand Rexroth drive, control and motion products.
Fountain Inn Building 103 is the largest investment by Bosch Rexroth in North America. To date, five assembly lines and multiple state-of-the-art machining centers have been installed for the production of the A10VO, along with one line for vane motor assembly. The entire facility operates utilizing a lean manufacturing and continuous quality improvement system called the Bosch Production System, which is used by Bosch production operations worldwide to ensure the highest levels of product quality.
The Fountain Inn project showcases Bosch Rexroth's desire to work cooperatively with local and state governments to improve U.S. manufacturing infrastructure.
Rexroth's commitment to local economic and workforce development was also highlighted through a $420,000 monetary and equipment donation from Bosch Rexroth together with the Bosch Community Fund to the Greenville Technical College to support the school's hands-on training program.
