COLUMBIA —Sixteen products advance in the third annual Manufacturing Madness contest presented by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. The winner will earn the title of “Coolest Thing Made in S.C.”
Nominations were accepted February 12-22 resulting in 166 nominated products. The public voted February 26-29 for their favorites, and more than 56,000 votes were cast to determine which of the Top 16 vote-getters would advance to the bracket.
Voters can visit scmanufacturingmadness.com to select a winner from each pairing in the bracket, cutting the field in half each week until the ultimate winner is selected from the top four. The winner will be announced in a ceremony at the Statehouse on March 28.
The 2024 Top 16 finalists are:
Next-Gen USPS Delivery Vehicle, Oshkosh Defense, Spartanburg
Honda Talon 1000R-4 Fox Live Valve, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. South Carolina Manufacturing, Florence
TGIF Baby Back Ribs, Spartanburg Meat Processing Company, Inc., Spartanburg
9-Speed Automatic Transmission, ZF Transmissions, Laurens
BMW XM Plug-In Hybrid, BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC, Spartanburg
High Noon Sun Sips, E. & J. Gallo Winery, Chester
Counterbalance Trucks, KION North America, Dorchester
M240 Series Machine Guns, FN Manufacturing, LLC, Richland
Dixie Paper Plates, Georgia-Pacific, Darlington
Fire Sprinklers, Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co., Inc., Pickens
Kazoobie Kazoos, Kazoobie Kazoos, LLC, Beaufort
670LXS, Scout Boats, Dorchester
Michelin Earthmover Mining Tire, Michelin, Lexington
Reishi, MycoWorks, Union
Sleep Number Climate360 Smart Bed, Sleep Number, Richland
Signa Hero MRI Scanner, GE HealthCare, Florence
Created by the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, the Manufacturing Madness: The Coolest Thing Made in S.C. contest debuted in 2022. The F-16 Fighting Falcon made by Lockheed Martin in Greenville won the contest in 2023, and Steel made by Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger won the inaugural contest in 2022.
Remaining Contest Timeline:
March 4-7: Top 16 bracket voting
March 11-14: Top 8 bracket voting
March 18-21: Final round of bracket voting
March 28: Winner announced