KION North America, the Summerville-based lift truck maker, is expanding its Dorchester County operations to keep up with customer demand, the S.C. Department of Commerce said Thursday.
The company will invest $5.7 million in its existing operations and create more than 50 jobs over the next five years, the department said.
KION North America is part of KION Group AG, one of the world’s largest makers of industrial trucks, the department said. It is headquartered at 2450 W. 5th North St. in Summerville. Its brands include Linde, Baoli and STILL, according to the company.
The expansion will let KION raise its production capacity from 3,000 units a year in 2015 to about 12,000 units a year by 2020, according to the department. In January, the company said it would reach that capacity following a $3 million facility expansion in 2016.
One new customer is just down the road. In January, KION announced an agreement to supply material handling equipment to Volvo Car US Operations Inc. for the automaker’s first American factory, which Volvo Cars is establishing in Berkeley County. KION said its headquarters is about five miles from the Volvo site.
KION will supply and service a fleet of forklifts, reach trucks and very narrow aisle trucks for the plant, the department said. KION said Volvo will be the first automaker to use a fleet made up largely of lithium-ion battery-powered equipment.
“This agreement is monumental,” Mike Gore, KION North America’s vice president of sales, said in the department’s announcement. “Not only are two global premium manufacturers teaming up, but more importantly, two South Carolina businesses.”
“We are proud to offer the most innovative technology in the material handling industry, especially to one of the most innovative players in the automotive industry, who happens to be right in our own backyard,” said Vincent Halma, president and CEO of KION North America.
KION has had a presence in South Carolina for more than 30 years, the company said.
