bott in the USA

From the 1980’s bott built a long-standing bi-directional trading arrangement with Kennedy Manufacturing Company, of Van Wert (OH), and it’s subsidiary Markhon Inc. until the former unfortunately entered Chapter 11 around 2005.

To accelerate market growth, Bott Group founded a US subsidiary, bott USA Inc. in Ann Arbor (MI) in 1998, to establish a presence in the USA market, specifically focused on Vehicle Equipment and Assembly Line Equipment Sales. Initially the subsidiary was supported by shipment of parts imported from the UK and Germany. Following high levels of early success, bott USA Inc. took the decision to add a local supply chain partner and employed Markhon Inc. to provide local production and logistics services. When the sub-prime crisis began and in the face of worsening market conditions in 2007, bott USA Inc. relocated to Charleston (SC), to focus on providing Vehicle Equipment Solutions on a ship-through basis to the new Daimler-Chrysler Sprinter Assembly Facility in Ladson (SC). Despite the best efforts of the team, USD weakness restricted vehicle imports and the decision was taken in 2009 to close down the USA operation on commercial grounds. bott equipment continued to be resold by Independent Distributor Invango LLC Inc, until it also closed in 2010.

In 2022, a new chapter began with the formation of Systainer Systems North America LLC, a collaboration between bott and Tanos. This joint venture operation brings together the bott Smartvan and systainer® brands as well as decades of industry experience in the areas of organization, storage, and van shelving solutions.

In recognition of the importance of the North American market, bott continues to sell its workshop storage products to US end-users and distributors via its subsidiary Bott Ltd in the UK.