Takeuchi has completed its first compact track loaders produced at its new manufacturing plant in Moore, South Carolina. It is the company’s first production facility in North America and will eventually build nearly of its CTLs.
“The North American market has demonstrated the greatest demand for Takeuchi compact track loaders over time, and that demand continues to grow,” said Jeff Stewart, president, in a prepared statement. “Manufacturing these popular machines here is a sound business decision because it eliminates the need to ship them from an overseas facility to supply our North American dealers and customers. However, Takeuchi’s global markets are also expanding, and we expect to export more compact track loaders from our new facility as production levels increase.”
Takeuchi has been producing CTLs at one of its factories in the Nagano province of Japan. After most compact track loader production has moved from Japan to the South Carolina facility, Takeuchi will retool that facility to produce compact excavators.
“All in all, our new production facility will help us continue growing our compact track loader business by reducing lead times and helping us get the right units to market faster,” Stewart said. “It will also allow us to increase our compact excavator business by allowing our facility in Japan to focus on producing these very popular machines.”
The 156,000-square-foot production facility and standalone office building employs 40, and the company plans additional staff to come on board as Takeuchi ramps up production over the next few months. Ultimately, the facility will employ around 150 people.
“Opening this new manufacturing facility required great teamwork and cooperation between Takeuchi’s employees in the U.S. and Japan,” said Toshiya Takeuchi, president of Takeuchi, in a statement. “It is truly an investment in our future. We’re very proud and excited to see the first compact track loaders come off the assembly line in South Carolina, and we look forward to the benefits this new venture will bring to our stakeholders worldwide.”
Source: Takeuchi
