SMTCL to Manufacture in U.S.

At a press conference held during IMTS 2014, Jerry McCarty, COO of SMTCL-Americas (City of Industry, California) announced the company’s plans to begin manufacturing machine tools in the United States. The U.S. factory will complement SMTCL’s current manufacturing facilities in Germany and China and help it better serve its North American customers, including those in Canada and Mexico.

The site of the new manufacturing facility has not yet been determined, but Mr. McCarty said it will be managed and staffed by Americans. “We will also use a number of local U.S. vendors to provide contract machining, fabricating and electronics,” he said. SMTCL plans to purchase or build a 100,000-square-foot facility that can accommodate 100 to 120 employees, including manufacturing engineers, machine assembly technicians and service technicians.

According to Mr. McCarty, SMTCL-Americas will begin by producing vertical machining centers and expand to other products as the market dictates. It hopes to be manufacturing in the U.S. by the end of this year.

The company also announced a new strategy to work more closely with its distributors in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to ensure that SMTCL customers have consistent access to machines, parts and service. The machine tool builder will provide training on new products and specialized support when needed from its technical centers.