Bosch Rexroth in Fountain Inn recently donated equipment and a new lab to Greenville Technical College during its grand opening of an $80 million expansion.
Berend Bracht, president of Bosch Rexroth Americas, presented Keith Miller, Greenville Tech president, with a check as part of the company’s gift of more than $420,000. Bosch Rexroth donated more than $400,000 in equipment to the college. Also, the Bosch Community Fund awarded a $20,000 grant to the college to create a new hydraulic lab on campus.
Officials announced the gift during the ceremonies for a five-year project to expand production and convert an existing 260,000-square-foot warehouse into a manufacturing facility that will initially produce Rexroth’s A10VO hydraulic pump, used in a variety of applications such as mobile construction and agricultural machinery, mining, materials handling and heavy industries.
The company expects to add 160 new jobs by the middle of the decade, with 60 already added to the payroll. By the end of the project in 2016, the Fountain Inn plant expects to have 735 full-time employees.
With the addition of the new building, Charlotte-based Bosch Rexroth has doubled its production capabilities at the location, making the Fountain Inn campus its largest hydraulics manufacturing site in the Americas. The investment also is the largest by Bosch Rexroth in North America.
“The Bosch investment for expanded production in Fountain Inn increases our ability to serve the needs of our local and regional customers,” said Bracht. “In turn, this enhances their opportunity to participate in industrial and mobile equipment markets on a global basis.”
He said the expansion, announced in late 2011, was needed to meet demand. Sales growth of 46 percent, 38 percent and 20 percent was ach-ieved in the past three years.
“In part, this explosive growth came from our head start in developing energy-saving hydraulics to help our customers meet the reduced diesel emissions requirements specified by the Tier 4 emissions standard,” he said.
The expansion also is good for Fountain Inn and the state.
“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,” said Gov. Nikki Haley. “We celebrate the 160 new jobs the company will create with this campus and look forward to its continued success.”
Officials said Bosch Rexroth is committed to enhanced training for a skilled workforce. The on-campus lab will provide state-of-the-art technology.
“Finding technically skilled associates has become one of the most pressing issues in our business, especially as we expand to meet the needs of our customers,” said Bracht. “Greenville Technical College has worked with us closely to establish programs that address this critical need. The top-of-the-line training equipment is a further, significant step in making the training center even better.”
The lab will serve Greenville Tech students and act as a training center for Bosch customers and associates. Bosch is supplying equipment, manuals, components, a drive-up trainer and textbooks, online training materials and manuals for students and teachers.
“We are committed to partnering with industry to shape the workforce of today and tomorrow,” Miller said. “We are grateful to have Bosch aid in this initiative by providing us what we expect to be an outstanding addition to our program.”
The new facility lab, able to accommodate 18 people, will be used for hydraulic technology training, hydraulic performance testing and industry research. The lab will be housed at the Buck Mickel Center on campus.
Bosch Rexroth AG is a leader in drive and control technologies. As part of the Bosch Group, Bosch Rexroth and its 38,400 associates generated approximately $8.9 billion in revenue in 2011. Other Bosch plants in South Carolina include auto parts makers in North Charleston and Anderson.
