GE Appliances Opens $70-Million Water Heater Manufacturing Plant in South Carolina

GE Appliances, a Haier company, officially opened its $70-million water heating manufacturing plant in Camden, South Carolina. The site will serve as the company’s Center of Excellence for water heater manufacturing and was built for future expansion. Since 2016, GE Appliances has invested $2 billion in its U.S. manufacturing and distribution operations, adding more than 3,000 new employees and creating an additional 88,000 jobs in the nation’s economy.

The plant is vertically integrated and will produce units starting from coils of steel into high-quality water heaters for homes across the U.S. The new plant includes advanced systems for metal fabrication and welding, robotics for material handling and processing, and enameling of steel.

During the construction and in preparation for launch, more than 50 team leaders and maintenance employees completed more than 5,700 hours of training in robotics, welding and mechatronics at nearby Central Carolina Technical College. The plant will initially employ 140 people.