Fort Mill, South Carolina – When the plant opened in 1985, there was a short ceremony, and people went back to work. When it expanded several times, adding more operations and even becoming the Schaeffler’s North American headquarters, Americas CEO Bruce Warmbold said the problem was always the same.
”We were busy, didn’t have time for an opening,” Warmbold told the crowd gathered to see the latest expansion to the automotive supplier’s South Carolina operations. This time was different. Executives and the company’s owners flew in from Germany, local officials and the state’s governor were in the crowd, media representatives from national outlets were there.
The $36 million expansion adds 105 jobs, new offices, new equipment and a handful of other upgrades. But more importantly, it caps off more than $1 billion spent at the Fort Mill campus during the past 32 years.
Producing parts using the INA, LUK, and FAG brands, Schaffler primarily supplies bearing systems for actuators, engines, and transmissions. It also produces electric and hybrid-electric powertrain components, non-bearing transmission equipment, and industrial components.
Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann, one of the company’s co-owners, says Schaeffler’s roots in South Carolina manufacturing go back to the 1970s and that expanding operations to the United States from Germany was key to the company’s early success.
”The U.S. is not only one of our country’s most vibrant and significant markets, it has been a major manufacturing base for us,” Schaeffler-Thumann said. She added that the company is also in the process of expanding its Wooster, Ohio, plant, with major new operations set to go online in the fall.
Schaeffler’s South Carolina expansion created 35,000ft2 of additional manufacturing space, increasing capacity for thrust bearings used in 8-, 9-, and 10-speed automatic transmissions.
About the author: Robert Schoenberger is the editor of Today’s Motor Vehicles and a contributor to Today’s Medical Developments and Aerospace Manufacturing and Design. He has written about the automotive industry for more than 17 years at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio; The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky; and The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi.