Kentucky’s Factory Floor Is Getting Smarter
Two recent Kentucky manufacturing moves point in the same direction: more automation, more advanced vehicle technology and more demand for workers who can keep increasingly sophisticated factories running.
Two Companies, Two Sides of the Shift
In Berea, Astemo Americas is planning a major expansion of its manufacturing operations, with more than $112 million in new investment across two Madison County plants.
The project will add nearly 300,000 square feet of production and warehouse space and create 114 jobs. Much of that growth is tied to hybrid electric-vehicle motors and other powertrain components, placing the Berea operation squarely inside the broader shift toward more electrified vehicles.
A few counties away, the manufacturing story looks different but points to the same future.
BOS Innovations opened its first U.S. manufacturing operation in Lexington in August. The Canadian company designs and builds industrial automation systems using robotics, lasers, precision assembly and advanced inspection technologies.
Its $5.4 million Lexington facility is expected to create 111 full-time jobs.
The Factory Is Becoming the Product
What makes the two announcements interesting together is the way they show both sides of modern manufacturing.
Astemo is expanding production of advanced vehicle components. BOS Innovations builds the automated systems manufacturers use to produce parts more efficiently and with greater precision.
In other words, Kentucky is attracting companies that make increasingly complex products and companies that make the machinery helping factories make those products.
That matters because the manufacturing economy is no longer defined only by square footage, assembly lines and head count. The work increasingly depends on robotics, specialized equipment, software-driven systems and employees who can operate, maintain and improve them.
For Kentucky, that changes the workforce conversation too. New manufacturing jobs can include traditional production roles, but they also create demand for technicians, engineers, automation specialists and workers comfortable around highly technical equipment.
The Commonwealth has long made cars, parts and industrial goods. The next phase appears to involve making the factories themselves smarter.
For a closer look at manufacturers operating across Kentucky, browse the Guide to Kentucky directory at https://www.guidetokentucky.com/manufacturing.
