A Company Making 500 Million Toothbrushes a Year Is Building Its First U.S. Factory in Tennessee

A manufacturer capable of producing half a billion toothbrushes annually is preparing to make its first products on American soil, choosing a former plastics factory in Gallatin, Tennessee, for a $20.2 million investment.

Taiwan-based Acumen plans to begin production in 2027 at a 90,000-square-foot facility northeast of Nashville. The project starts with 50 jobs, with the company expecting to add hundreds more as operations expand. Its selection of Tennessee offers a look at a different side of America’s manufacturing ambitions: not batteries or semiconductor chips, but an ordinary household product purchased and replaced by millions of families.

The facility will be Acumen’s first manufacturing site outside Asia, where it already operates automated production lines in Taiwan, China and Vietnam. Founded in 1976, the company makes toothbrushes and other oral-care goods for brands that sell their products under their own names.

From a former plastics plant to toothbrush production

Acumen has acquired the former Salga Plastics facility at 241 ABC Boulevard in Gallatin. The existing building will be upgraded to accommodate plastic injection molding and other automated production equipment. The company has begun preparing new machinery for shipment to Tennessee ahead of the planned 2027 start.

The Gallatin Economic Development Agency announced the investment November 12, placing the site in an established local manufacturing area rather than a newly developed industrial park.

Acumen designs much of its own machinery and molds, a capability important to its highly automated operations. Across its current Asian facilities, the company has the capacity to manufacture about 500 million toothbrushes a year. That is its existing international production capacity, not a forecast for the new Tennessee plant.

Why make toothbrushes in America?

The Gallatin plant is intended to serve customers in the United States and export goods to other markets in North, Central and South America. Producing closer to those customers can shorten some shipping routes and make it easier to manage orders, although the company’s actual costs and pricing will depend on its production scale and supply chains.

Acumen’s expansion also illustrates how global manufacturers can establish U.S. operations without abandoning their plants overseas. The Tennessee site will add a North American production base to the company’s existing Asian network.

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development confirmed the initial 50 jobs and the company’s plans for further hiring, but details including expected wages, incentives and the timing of later phases have not been released in the announcement.

Automation and jobs in the same factory

Acumen’s plan brings two realities of modern manufacturing together. It aims to invest in advanced equipment that can produce large quantities consistently, while also promising to build a skilled local workforce. The plant’s long-term employment impact will depend on how rapidly production grows and which operations are located in Gallatin.

Tennessee already has experience attracting overseas manufacturers, including companies headquartered in Taiwan. The Acumen project adds a consumer-goods producer to that industrial landscape at a time when the question of what America should make at home remains prominent.

There are still important unknowns. Acumen has not said how many toothbrushes the Gallatin facility will eventually turn out, what share of its raw materials will be sourced domestically or how many workers would be required to meet its longer-term ambitions.

For Gallatin, the immediate gain is a new use for an existing industrial building and an initial commitment to 50 positions. For American shoppers, the significance may be more subtle: a product as familiar as a toothbrush is becoming part of the effort to rebuild everyday manufacturing closer to the consumers who use it.