BOSTON — Schneider Electric on Thursday announced plans to invest $140 million in its U.S. manufacturing operations and create about 750 new manufacturing jobs across the country in 2024.
The company will invest $85 million initially to transform and equip an existing 500,000-square-foot building in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, and upgrade its existing Smyrna, Tennessee, manufacturing operations. Both locations will manufacture custom electrical switchgear and medium voltage power distribution products to bolster support for critical infrastructure, industries, and the escalating demand for data center solutions across the U.S.
The new plant in Mt. Juliet is expected to begin manufacturing and shipping products to Schneider's customers by mid-2024 and is expected to be fully operational in 2025. The two plants will also incorporate advanced manufacturing technologies and software to improve operational performance, achieve energy savings, and reduce carbon footprint, among other benefits.
The company also said it will recruit and employ an additional 455 manufacturing workers across both locations. Roles will range from manufacturing technicians and engineers to test technicians and quality leads, among other manufacturing-related positions.
"The need for electrical infrastructure to support advanced computing and technological progress has never been greater," said Aamir Paul, President, North America Operations, Schneider Electric. "These investments will also support implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act by strengthening domestic supply of products critical to boost America's electrification transformation. They will also further position Schneider Electric as a driving force behind this country's clean energy transition."
Demand for Schneider's energy efficient solutions and sustainability solutions continues to surge, which the company indicated during its full year 2023 financial results announced last month. The company said its U.S. growth was 'a function of continued strong demand across its infrastructure and data center end-markets,' the latter due in large part to the growth of artificial intelligence.
The Tennessee investment is part of Schneider Electric's commitment to strengthen its American manufacturing presence and create new jobs. Since 2020, Schneider Electric has invested more than $440 million across its American manufacturing network, including constructing its newest 160,000 square foot smart manufacturing plant in El Paso, Texas that opened in the summer of 2023.
The company, a leader enabling smart factory transformation, has also upgraded and automated some of its own manufacturing and distribution center facilities in Lexington, Kentucky; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Mechanicsburg and Middletown, Pennsylvania. The investments enable Schneider to streamline its production and order fulfillment processes, stay competitive and agile, and bolster its domestic supply chain capabilities.
Schneider Electric has had a presence in the U.S for 135 years. The company employs more than 19,000 workers in the country and its products and solutions can be found in four of 10 U.S. homes, 40 percent of the world's hospitals, and in water and wastewater installations in 150 countries.
In 2023, TIME magazine named Schneider Electric to its 100 Most Influential Companies list recognizing it for work done to help clients reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The company is also ranked among the Top 10 of the 2023 Best Workplaces in Manufacturing & Production by the Great Place to Work U.S. organization and Fortune magazine.
