Top 16 announced in contest to pick Coolest Thing Made in S.C.

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