What Feintool U.S. Operations makes

Feintool U.S. Operations is the American arm of Feintool International Holding AG, the Swiss group that pioneered fineblanking as a high-volume precision process. In the United States it runs two plants, Feintool Cincinnati in Ohio and Feintool Tennessee in the Nashville suburb of Antioch, and together they produce more than one million automotive parts per day. The work centers on fineblanking and forming of powertrain, seating, and safety components: transmission parts, hubs, clutch baskets, gear spiders, and clutch plates, made to the flat, burr-free tolerances that fineblanking delivers in a single stroke.

The US plants sit inside a global technology group whose core competencies are fineblanking, forming, and electrolamination stamping for electric-motor rotors and stators. In North America the focus is automotive, with a strong position in hybrid-capable transmission components. Feintool combines large-tonnage servo forming with in-tool roller tool technology, which lets it form complex geometries in one tool run at lower cost than comparable machining. Secondary processes run in-house alongside the presses, including laser welding, heat treatment such as induction hardening and gas nitriding, and heat flattening, a process the company integrated into its US fineblanking line to raise the flatness of parts like clutch plates.

Because the US operations serve automotive OEMs and their tier-one suppliers, the parts feed programs where fit and durability are tightly specified, and where PPAP-style approval discipline is standard practice.

Ownership and history

Feintool U.S. Operations, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Feintool International Holding AG, headquartered in Lyss, Switzerland, and publicly listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the ticker FTON.SW. The parent group was founded in 1959 and today employs roughly 3,100 to 3,500 people across about 18 locations in seven countries, including Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, the United States, China, Japan, and India. For the 2024 financial year the group reported turnover of roughly CHF 833 million. Those figures belong to the parent; the US subsidiary does not publish standalone financials.

The American business is not new. Feintool opened its first North American plant more than 40 years ago, in the early 1980s, and has operated continuously in the US since. Rick Bachman was named President of Feintool U.S. Operations in April 2025, taking profit-and-loss responsibility for the US plants after more than two decades with Feintool in logistics and general-management roles. At the group level, Lars Reich became CEO of Feintool International Holding AG on June 1, 2025.

US investment and capacity

The clearest recent signal from the US operations is capacity investment. In 2024 Feintool completed a $35 million, 47,000-square-foot expansion at its Nashville-area plant in Tennessee, a 25 percent increase in that facility's footprint that added up to 50 jobs. The centerpiece is a 1,600-ton direct servo transfer press for forming, brought into service around the first quarter of 2025, plus two new 880-ton fineblanking presses and supporting CNC lathes, laser welding, and parts-washing equipment.

The company frames the expansion as part of a regional-production strategy: build capacity close to the customers each plant serves rather than ship parts across oceans. Feintool's 2026 customer magazine placed the Nashville buildout alongside a new plant under construction in Pune, India, and a production shift in Europe toward Most in the Czech Republic. For North American automotive buyers, the practical effect is more domestic fineblanking and forming capacity for hybrid-capable transmission work, which reduces exposure to long-distance freight and cross-border tariff risk and supports nearshoring of powertrain components.

Known customers

Feintool does not publish a named US customer list, which is normal for a fineblanker producing components for automotive OEM and tier-one programs. What is documented is the type of work rather than the buyer.

No individual OEM name met the documentation bar in this pass, so the section stays at the honest program level rather than naming a customer that is not on the public record.

Sourcing evidence

US customs bill-of-lading records for the Cincinnati entity show 276 sea import shipments on file, with the most recent recorded on August 20, 2026. The named foreign shippers read exactly the way a fineblanker's inbound mix should. Three of the top four are German special-steel strip mills, Bilstein, Buderus Edelstahl, and Thyssenkrupp Hohenlimburg, and the fourth is Feintool Technologie, the group's own tooling operation.

Four shippers shown. The pattern, precision steel strip in and finished stamped parts out, is the signature of a US manufacturer that stamps domestically, not a reseller importing finished goods. A separate customs footprint may exist under the Feintool Tennessee entity that is not summed here.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Truck and rail movements, including most flows from Canada and Mexico, do not appear, some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers, and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does Feintool U.S. Operations make?

Feintool U.S. Operations makes precision automotive components using fineblanking and forming, including transmission parts, hubs, clutch baskets, gear spiders, clutch plates, and seating and safety components. Its two US plants, in Cincinnati, Ohio and Antioch, Tennessee, produce more than one million automotive parts per day.

Who owns Feintool U.S. Operations?

Feintool U.S. Operations, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Feintool International Holding AG, a Swiss company headquartered in Lyss and publicly listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the ticker FTON.SW. The parent group was founded in 1959.

Where is Feintool U.S. Operations located?

Feintool runs two US plants: Feintool Cincinnati at 11280 Cornell Park Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242, and Feintool Tennessee at 2930 Old Franklin Road, Antioch, Tennessee 37013, in the Nashville area.

Who runs Feintool U.S. Operations?

Rick Bachman has been President of Feintool U.S. Operations, Inc. since April 2025, with profit-and-loss responsibility for the US plants. He has worked at Feintool for more than two decades. Lars Reich is CEO of the parent, Feintool International Holding AG, effective June 2025.

What is fineblanking, and why does Feintool use it?

Fineblanking is a precision metal-stamping process that produces flat, smooth, burr-free parts with full material thickness in a single press stroke, unlike conventional stamping. Feintool pioneered the process and uses it, together with forming, to make high-volume automotive components such as transmission and clutch parts that need tight flatness and edge quality.

How much has Feintool invested in its US operations recently?

Feintool completed a $35 million, 47,000-square-foot expansion at its Nashville-area plant in 2024, a 25 percent footprint increase that added up to 50 jobs. The investment added a 1,600-ton servo transfer press and two 880-ton fineblanking presses for hybrid-capable transmission components.

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.