FROM ITS FIRST LOCATION IN HACKENSACK, MAPAL moves a few miles south to Piscataway, also in New Jersey. An extension is built here in 1987.
MODEST START IN THE WORLD’s LARGEST MARKET
MAPAL's first site outside Germany is established 1977 in Hacksensack, New Jersey, just outside New York. This step was taken by company founder Dr Georg Kress. For a long time, the US foreign subsidiary hardly plays any economic role. There are no major potential customers from the automotive industry in New Jersey. Added to this are difficulties with the management staff, who change frequently and do not always fulfil the expectations. Attracting and retaining qualified specialised staff also turned out to be a challenge due to the peculiarities of the American labour market.
In 1996, MAPAL seized an excellent opportunity: the company AARO was purchased in Port Huron, Michigan, not far from Detroit. Not only specialised in manufacturing of solid carbide tools, especially reamers, it is also strategically located close to the major American car manufacturers. MAPAL invests around 25 million Deutschmarks in the modernisation and expansion of the plant, which soon was supplying well-known customers from the automotive industry. The site in New Jersey is closed and MAPAL USA has its headquarter in Port Huron. Nevertheless, the company initially developed at a rather leisurely pace. This is because German car manufacturers, who have already had good experiences with MAPAL, are still hardly represented in the USA.
However, this will change before the turn of the millennium - partly because further automotive sites are being built in the south of the USA, for example in Spartanburg. In addition, the demand from other sectors such as the aviation industry and the energy sector is also increasing. MAPAL is therefore expanding its production capacity in the USA in 2013 and is building a new plant with 2,250 square metres of floor space in Columbia, South Carolina.
Even though MAPAL USA has not yet reached the size of other foreign subsidiaries, the locations in Michigan and South Carolina are of great strategic importance with regard to possible changes in US customs policy.
