November 11, 2020 – During its North American Innovation Summit yesterday, Schneider Electric announced a $40-million investment toward modernizing its U.S. manufacturing plants in Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska and Texas.

“By modernizing and localizing our operations, we can better serve our customers and minimize the risk of interruption when we face the challenges of global economic changes,” said Annette Clayton, CEO & president, Schneider Electric North America.

Covid-19 placed a spotlight on the critical vulnerabilities global manufacturing and supply chains can face during unprecedented disruption, the company noted.

To that end, we asked Susan Uthayakumar, president for Canada, about the shortage of residential panelboards experienced here, and she said the investment in these U.S. facilities will address the supply issue that occurred back in the summer.

Common themes during yesterday’s summit were “business resiliency”, “anti-fragility” and “multi-shoring” (meaning manufacturing both at home and abroad) and, with the investment in these facilities, Schneider aims to make itself more resilient and anti-fragile.