KEMET Unveils New Power Film Manufacturing Facility
October 27, 2011
The multimillion dollar project involves an addition and retrofitting of anexisting facility at KEMET’s Simpsonville plantto add a flexible manufacturing line, as well as the future addition of threeautomatic assembly lines to produce capacitors for electric drive vehicles andother green technologies.
Funding was made possible through a $15.1 million grant under the U.S. Department of Energy Recovery Act, as well as incentivesfrom the state of South Carolina equaling $2.5 million and a $16.5million investment by KEMET. Of significance to the local community isthe commitment by KEMET to initially create more than 110 new jobs to staff theplant as it becomes fully operational.
The hybrid electric and full electric vehicle market segment is expected togrow at a rate in excess of 19 percent over the next 10 years. With 35 percentof that growth in the U.S., we are in a unique position to provide our customerswith the required DC bus capacitors from our new state-of-the-art facility herein Simpsonville, said Per Loof, KEMET ChiefExecutive Officer. Transportation is 16 percent of our total revenue and thatwill only expand as vehicles become more integrated with electrical technology.I think we are investing the taxpayers’ money wisely.
South Carolina State Secretary of Commerce BobbyHitt, a speaker at the event, noted that Governor Nikki Haley’s administration believes manufacturing isthe way out of the economic doldrums.
We must have innovation and, certainly, electric cars are a big part of theinnovation, Hitt said. He went on to say that 10 percent of the state’s workforce is in manufacturing, but it generates 17 percent of the state’s grossproduct.
Kevin Pavlov, Chief Operating Officer of MagnaE-Car Systems, who also spoke at the event said, Applications are endless forcapacitors as vehicles continue to merge with electronic technology. MagnaE-Car, which develops hybrid and electric vehicle systems, employs 1,400 workersin South Carolina and has been working with KEMETto develop its latest capacitors for electric vehicles.
KEMET has already hired nine workers and expects to start capacitorproduction on its flexible line in early December. Jobs will be added at the Simpsonville site as automated manufacturinglines are installed, beginning with the first line in a few months andadditional lines added over the next few years.
In hybrid and electric vehicles, direct current from the battery needs to beconverted into alternating current to power the motor. Capacitors are a keycomponent in the power inverter unit that performs this function, addedLoof.
Further illustrating its commitment to the advancement of renewable energytechnologies, KEMET recently added a Chevrolet Volt to its fleet and installedan electric vehicle charging station at its Simpsonville headquarters.
About KEMET
KEMET’s common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol KEM. At theInvestor Relations section of our web site at http://www.KEMET.com/IR, usersmay subscribe to KEMET news releases and find additional information about ourCompany. KEMET applies world class service and quality to deliver industryleading, high performance capacitance solutions to its customers around theworld and offers the world’s most complete line of surface mount andthrough-hole capacitor technologies across tantalum, ceramic, film, aluminum,electrolytic, and paper dielectrics. Additional information about KEMET can befound at http://www.kemet.com.
