Komatsu Ltd. built a plant adjacent to its Ibaraki facility in Japan to aid in the performance of pre-shipment maintenance of dump trucks and other self-propelled vehicles and packaging of shipment parts.
Content provided by KomatsuAt the Ibaraki plant, Komatsu produces medium-sized and large rigid-frame dump trucks, articulated dump trucks, and medium-sized and large wheel loaders. Komatsu exports about 90 percent of products produced there.
Located adjacent to the Hitachinaka port area, the plant features no trucking of export products from port roads to the docks, as the products are virtually finished and can be driven. Since the Ibaraki plant was established in 2007, its production of dump trucks and other products for overseas markets has been increasing, albeit amid demand fluctuation, and the lack of an area for pre-shipment maintenance of products has been a major issue for the plant. The new facility utilizes a new site on the shipping flow line from the assembly plant to Hitachinaka Port and will help substantially reduce lead-time from the assembly line off to shipping.
In addition, when shipping vehicles after maintenance and inspection, some parts may be disassembled according to shipping standards, and the packing work for those parts may be done outside of the plant before shipping together with the vehicle. The new facility enables packaging of the parts inside the plant, cutting down lead time and transportation costs through improved logistics.
