CHICAGO (March 22, 1:45 p.m. ET) — Whirlpool Corp.’s KitchenAid brand is bringing production of its hand mixers back to the U.S. from China.
That shift will mean new business for suppliers of the mixers injection molded parts, said Larry Simpson, global business development manager for KitchenAid Small Appliances, during an interview at the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago March 10-13.
The company is in the process of moving production now to Greenville, Ohio, which is already home to KitchenAid’s larger stand mixers, he said. Motors will still be made by key suppliers for St. Joseph, Mich.-based KitchenAid in Asia, but the bulk of other components will move to local sources.
Among other parts, the mixers’ bodies are injection molded plastic, some of them painted and some using a molded-in-color process.
