Aisin Drivetrain Inc. in Crothersville, Indiana has added about 100 workers to its workforce in preparation for the production of a new transmission for light and medium-duty commercial Chrysler Ram trucks.
“We’re excited to add this new six-speed automatic transmission to our product group here at ADI,” said Scott Turpin, who is president of Aisin Drivetrain.
The company invested $15 million in equipment and upgrades at the 350,000 square foot plant at 1001 Industrial Way.
Production of the transmissions – designed for Class 3, Class 4 and Class 5 diesel trucks – has begun, and the first shipments to Chrysler are expected to leave the plant later this month or in January, said Larry Summa, the company’s administrative division manager.
Summa also said the new product is the first transmission Aisin has made in America.
A recent ceremony to introduct the new product line was attended by Chrysler vice president Mircea Gardu, director of engineering Ed Perosky and platform director for transmission and driveline powertrain Mark Champine. The ceremony also was attended by Aisin Seiki chairman Kanshiro Toyoda. Aisin Drivetrain is a business unit of Aisin Seiki, an automotive transmission supplier.
Turpin said ADI has been running full throttle in preparation of the new business. “Many of our team members have logged thousands of miles and countless hours traveling to Japan for training on our new equipment,” Turpin said. He said the new project has provided opportunities to learn new processes and has brought together a team of like-minded, multicultural people ready for the new challenge.
Turpin said the Aisin-Chrysler relationship dates back 30 years when Aisin Group began building five-speed transmissions for the Jeep Cherokee.
ADI, which first opened its doors in 1996 at Crothersville, also supplies industrial transmissions for the forklift industry and steering columns for the automotive industry.
With the expansion, Aisin operations in North America will grow to nearly 5,000 full-time employees, with annual sales of $2 billion.
Source: The Tribune, December 14, 2012