{"id":7296,"date":"2016-10-03T14:43:36","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T14:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minutes.machine.market\/?p=7296"},"modified":"2016-10-03T14:43:36","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T14:43:36","slug":"komatsu-america-marks-30-years-in-chattanooga-tennessee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/machine.market\/blog\/komatsu-america-marks-30-years-in-chattanooga-tennessee\/","title":{"rendered":"Komatsu America marks 30 years in Chattanooga, Tennessee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Komatsu America<\/a> officials, with Starship’s “We Built This City” blaring in the background showed off their Chattanooga<\/a>-made line of excavators as the company marked 30 years here.<\/p>\n

“To reach that milestone, 30 years, takes a lot of teamwork,” said Komatsu America chief Rod Schrader. “My challenge and objective is let’s continue to work closely together, cooperating and collaborating, so the next 30 years will be even more successful.”<\/p>\n

Officials from the heavy equipment maker’s Chicago area U.S. home office and its world headquarters in Japan turned out for an hour-long ceremony at Komatsu’s sprawling Signal Mountain Road plant.<\/p>\n

\"komatsu-chattanooga-excavator\"

Chattanooga Manufacturing Operations (Chattanooga, TN)<\/p><\/div>\n

Schrader said the Chattanooga factory, which was Komatsu’s first in the U.S., has seen about $100 million in investment over three decades, and it today holds the company’s latest welding robots.<\/p>\n

Kunio Noji, Komatsu Ltd.’s chairman of the board, said the plant is one of the most important hydraulic excavator manufacturers in North America. Noji, who worked for two years in Chattanooga in the mid-1990s, urged factory employees to “never stop improving.”<\/p>\n

Bruce Nelson, the plant’s general manager, said the factory that also builds forestry machinery has 370 employees who focus on safety, quality, delivery and costs.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been able to grow the business,” he said about the plant that makes about 1,300 pieces of heavy equipment a year.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Nelson said there are 17 employees who’ll have 30 years at the factory by year’s end. Some 22 percent of its workforce has 25 years of service or more, he said, and about 40 percent have 20 or more years at the plant.<\/p>\n

Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger said he knows a global company such as Komatsu has choices, and he termed the 30-year mark “an important moment.”<\/p>\n

“We never want to go away without saying thank you for choosing Hamilton County,” he said. “We understand you have other options.”<\/p>\n

State Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said the Komatsu facility represents what Tennessee is trying to become.<\/p>\n

He said it’s “an environment where advanced manufacturing and education is required to be successful.”<\/p>\n

State Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, said Komatsu is on “the leading edge” when it comes to advanced manufacturing.<\/p>\n

“You guys were the first in Chattanooga doing this,” she said, adding that Japan is No. 1 in direct foreign investment in Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Don Painter, the first Komatsu shop employee in Chattanooga to reach 30 years, said when he joined the company, it was two different cultures striving for the same goal.<\/p>\n

“Quality is the top priority for every machine we produce here,” he said.<\/p>\n

According to the Times Free Press<\/a>, Schrader said the company is moving some engine remanufacturing activity to Chattanooga and that may add a few jobs in the future. In Chattanooga, some 100 of the company’s 370 workers have professional jobs, with many doing services for other parts of Komatsu, he said.<\/p>\n

Business in North America is “OK” at present, though it’s still at a solid level, Schrader said.<\/p>\n

by Mike Pare<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Komatsu America officials, with Starship’s “We Built This City” blaring in the background showed off their Chattanooga-made line of excavators as the company marked 30 years here. “To reach that milestone, 30 years, takes a lot of teamwork,” said Komatsu America chief Rod Schrader. “My challenge and objective is let’s continue to work closely together, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7298,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":""},"categories":[2,8],"tags":[826],"yoast_head":"\nKomatsu America marks 30 years in Chattanooga, Tennessee - MachineMarket Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cranemarket.com\/blog\/komatsu-america-marks-30-years-in-chattanooga-tennessee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Komatsu America marks 30 years in Chattanooga, Tennessee - 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