Member of the Week 10/10/2022 -- SPEED North America
With over 40 years of experience, SPEED Group is a leader in the production of synthetic monofilament lines. Headquartered in France, SPEED Group produces its monofilaments in four factories on four continents - SPEED South America located in Chile, SPEED South Africa, SPEED France, and SPEED North America located in Wooster, Ohio. SPEED North America is most recognized for its production of trimmer lines. They supply a vast amount of trimmer manufacturers (OEMs) and supply some of the world's largest distributors of agricultural and gardening equipment. They are recognized as the number one trimmer line manufacturer in the world.
FROM FRANCE TO WOOSTER
SPEED was founded in 1979 in Villefranche-sur-Saone, France when a gentleman developed a trimmer line in his garage. From there he grew the business and partnered with a U.S. manufacturer in Europe and began to sell his trimmer lines in Europe. Finding success, there was a desire to expand to North America and in 2003 SPEED opened a location in Quebec, Canada. In 2005, the business was sold to Emak Group, a manufacturer of trimmers, chainsaws and other outdoor power equipment. At the time, Emak had a distribution center in Wooster. Many of SPEED’s customers were based in the U.S., especially in Ohio through MTD Holdings, now Stanley Black & Decker, which was the company’s largest client.
“Wooster was the right place to be because we knew some people here and there was the opportunity of this plant,” Patrick Le Denmat, CEO SPEED North America said.
The plant that now houses SPEED North America had been the location of Bosch Rexroth until its closing in 2006. In January 2008, SPEED North America signed its lease and began doing business in Wooster.
SERVING PROFESSIONAL AND RETAIL MARKETS
SPEED North America primarily manufactures trimmer lines at the Wooster plant, which includes extrusion of trimmer lines, injection for the packaging and placing the trimmer line into the packaging.
For many years, SPEED primarily served the professional market, landscapers and distributors to the landscapers. While that was going well, there was interest to expand their products to the retail market. They were first approached by Home Depot and later expanded to Lowes and now SPEED products can be found at all of the major retailers.
“When you see colors, it’s from us because very few people can do what we do,” Le Denmat said. “The most sophisticated trimmer lines in the world are made by SPEED.”
SPEED provides products to all of the major OEMs including Ryobi, Troy-Bilt, and DeWalt.
80 percent of SPEED North America’s sales remain in the U.S. About 10 percent of their sales go to Australia, where they are considered the main supplier of trimmer line. The trimmer line is shipped to China and Vietnam to complete products for all of the major OEMs. SPEED North America also ships some product to Canada as well as Mexico.
Most of SPEEDs sales are in trimmer line, however, they are expanding into other businesses. One of the products is flexible cow stalls. SPEED has designed flexible cubicles that can adapt to any farm or herd and provide a comfortable divider for dairy cows.
In the years to come, SPEED North America is looking to focus on growing the products linked to climate change, which will mostly include increasing cable production. The cow stalls at the core are a cable and SPEED North America is looking to increase production of cable products related to the protection of cover crops or products for fish farms as well.
“We have great ambitions for the U.S. market,” Le Denmat said.
SPEED North America also produces agricultural lines used for vine and orchard trellising, greenhouses, hail protection systems, livestock fencing and more.
SPEED is the only manufacturer in the world that makes its own machines. The machines are designed and assembled in France and shipped to Wooster.
SAFETY FIRST
Although they are a manufacturer, the work is not physically demanding and the environment is clean and free from dust and debris. They make it a priority to promote a healthy and safe work environment. SPEED North America is confident in its ability to provide a safe work environment and when issues arise they are addressed.
INVESTING IN EDUCATION
SPEED North America is committed to educating and training its employees. Through the tuition reimbursement program, they are assisting their employees. Currently, they are sponsoring an employee to attend the Wayne County Schools Career Center in Adult Education in Maintenance. SPEED North America is willing to work with their employees interested in continuing their education in a technical field or robotics.
“We know that we have to develop our people in order to succeed,” Le Denmat said.
CONTACT
SPEED North America is located at 1700A Old Mansfield Road. Call 1-330-202-7775 with any questions.