ZF Gray Court is the largest U.S. production plant owned by ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF), a German-owned global technology company that supplies systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and industrial technology. The mega facility has undergone several major expansions since launching production operations in 2013. In 2024, ZF announced it will invest $500 million in its Gray Court facility to make it the company’s first North American flex-manufacturing facility, paving the way for production of the firm’s 8HP Gen4 PHEV transmissions, which are already in use in BMW 7 Series and X5 models.

A M King designed and built an expansion to Gray Court’s Product Engineering Support Center (PESC) to accommodate new testing equipment. Designed to match the existing structure, the 6,000-sf test cell extension houses infrastructure and support functions required to operate the testing equipment. The floorplan consists of two new Dyno test cell rooms leading to the electrical room. The extension ties into the existing steel structure on one 100-foot wall.

ZF also partnered with A M King on a multiphase project to convert an existing warehouse and distribution space at Gray Court to a new manufacturing area for an electric car manufacturer.

The first phase of the project included the extension of a utility line that will eventually tie into new equipment and provide cold water supply/return, tower water supply/return, domestic water, compressed air, and more. We also completed installation of seven, 30-ton test benches. We took ownership of this manufacturing project months before the equipment arrived from overseas, directed its transportation, prepared space for the test benches, and handled the actual installation process with ease.

In all of these projects, A M King was able to offer a Design-Build project approach which yielded typical advantages over traditional project delivery methods. For example, we were able to order long lead items before design was complete, routinely collaborate with ZF’s engineering and facilities group, and submit design and construction in one proposal. In each case, ZF was able to carry on with production while we managed the intricacies of these complex projects.