KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY AMERICA INVESTS $10.5 MILLION IN EXPANSION OF CALHOUN, GEORGIA PLANT
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Kobelco Construction Machinery America Invests $10.5 Million in Expansion of Calhoun, Georgia Plant
CALHOUN, GA - (June 5, 2008) -- Kobelco Construction Machinery America LLC, a manufacturer of compact, mid-size and full-size excavators, announced that it is investing approximately $10.5 million in its Calhoun, Georgia operations. Five million dollars has been appropriated for production expansion into a new 52,000 square foot building while an additional $1.5 million will be used to develop a new training center. A $4 million upgrade in production machinery is also just being completed at the existing Calhoun location.
The investments will allow the company to consolidate training operations, expand production capacity by approximately 15 percent and increase exports to about a third of its total production. The new training center will provide a facility for sales and service training for dealers and company personnel and will employ a full-time technical support staff.
In order to witness first hand Case IH's proven expertise in this business, customers were invited to the Case IH facilities in Piracicaba, Brazil. They visited the Piracicaba plant, where CNH has recently made substantial investments to introduce new products, production technologies. The group also visited the largest dealer in Brazil for sugar cane harvesters, Tracan, the Sao Martinho sugar mill, and the Case IH Curitiba tractor and combine plant.
"All Kobelco machines are manufactured in our own plants to ensure continuous excellence in quality, and our global manufacturing footprint allows us to maintain specialized manufacturing Centers Of Excellence in close proximity to customers, wherever they are in the world," said Terry Sheehan, president and chief executive officer of Kobelco America. "Timely delivery of quality products to our customers requires continued investments in the production processes for best-in-class manufacturing activities, which is exactly what we are committed to."
The Calhoun facility has been manufacturing Kobelco machines since 1990 and has produced over 22,000 excavators. The plant also manufactures excavators and dozers for the New Holland Construction brand.
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Kobelco Construction Machinery America LLC, a joint venture company owned by CNH Global N.V. (NYSE: CNH), which is a majority-owned subsidiary of Fiat S.p.A. (FIA.MI), and Kobelco Construction Machinery USA Inc., manufactures and markets a full line of compact, mid-size and full-size excavators ranging from 1.9 to 88 tons. Kobelco engineering is dedicated to power and precision, and every Kobelco excavator is designed and manufactured by Kobelco America to exceed customer expectations. With over 250 distribution outlets in North America, Kobelco excavators are supported by a network of experienced dealers and field service representatives. For more information, please visit www.kobelcoamerica.com.