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HITACHI MANUFACTURING FACILITY UPGRADE TO BOOST COMPACT EQUIPMENT PRODUCTION BY 30 PERCENT

Demand for compact machinery continues an upward trajectory as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and the resultant recovery takes hold. In particular, steady housing starts are expected to drive growth in the North American market, where Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas Inc. (HCMA) started its full-scale business expansion in March 2022.

Taking a proactive approach to meet this future demand,

Hitachi Construction Machinery will increase the production capacity for compact products such as excavators and wheel loaders produced at the Shiga Works facility of its consolidated subsidiary, Hitachi Construction Machinery Tierra Co., Ltd.

The Shiga Works facility is forecast to produce approximately 30 percent more units by fiscal year 2025 compared to machine production in 2021.

As part of the facility upgrade, Hitachi Construction Machinery Tierra plans to functionally enhance and relocate its product test site to an adjacent site by 2024, with the goal of advanced development of compact products.

Because compact products frequently operate in urban areas, there is a growing need for high functionality, which requires more advanced development testing. In addition to an expansion of environment-resistant testing equipment, beginning in fiscal year 2024 Hitachi Construction Machinery Tierra will expand compact excavator and compact wheel loader testing, including structural rigidity tests, at a new location approximately twice the size of its previous site.

Looking toward the future, the Hitachi Construction

Machinery Group will continue to help resolve the customer issues of safety, productivity, and life cycle costs as a close and reliable partner.

Construction of the test site is planned to begin in June 2022, and finish in April 2024.

VOLVO CE OPENS EXPANDED ELECTRIC MACHINE LINEUP RESERVATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA

North American Volvo Construction Equipment customers can reserve any of the company’s three newest electric machine models: the L20 Electric compact wheel loader and the EC18 and ECR18 Electric compact excavators.

This brings the Volvo CE electric lineup to five machines.

The Volvo CE 22-ton EC230 Electric excavator is also coming to North America for demos. The machine is not yet commercially available.

The news was announced during the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo. In recent years, the show has expanded its focus from on-road vehicles to include off-road technology, making it a natural fit to introduce the ordering process for the new Volvo CE electric models.

“Off-road equipment is the next frontier in electric vehicles, and Volvo CE is proud to lead the way in the construction industry’s sustainability journey,” said Stephen Roy, president, Region

North America at Volvo CE. “Fleets need cleaner solutions to meet growing regulations and societal demand, and now we have five electric compact models for our customers to choose from.”

LIEBHERR USA HIGHLIGHTS PRODUCT RANGE AT FIRST EVENT IN NEWLY EXPANDED FACILITY

Liebherr USA has hosted visitors from across the globe at the company’s first Customer Day. The event took place at Liebherr USA’s updated headquarters and facilities.

Having moved into the expanded campus in April 2020, Customer Day provided the opportunity to reveal the $60 million facility enhancements. The enhancements comprise a new administrative building, workshop, training facility, a parts distribution warehouse including retail operations, and a wash bay building.

At Customer Day, Liebherr USA also highlighted and demonstrated a range of products across all ten segments of the company’s business including earthmoving, mining, and mobile and crawler cranes. E06-ECA Canada - NR.jpg

EQUIPMENT CORPORATION OF AMERICA EXPANDS INTO WESTERN CANADA

The Equipment Corporation of America (ECA) has been awarded the sales territory of Western Canada by BAUER Maschinen and BAUER Equipment America. Foundation contractors in Western Canada can expect the same wide range of equipment, services, and parts ECA and ECA Canada offer in the Eastern United States and Canada.

“We’re very excited about expanding our operations into Western Canada,” says Roy Kern, ECA president and CEO. “We’ll be locally supplying and stocking a full complement of BAUER products and accessories including BG drilling rigs, RTG piling equipment, KLEMM small diameter drills, BAUER MAT/Obermann slurry handling, mixing, and pumping equipment, MC duty-cycle cranes, and cutters.”

ECA has been serving Eastern Canada as ECA Canada Company since 1999 through its Uxbridge, Ontario headquarters. This was a natural progression for BAUER to grow its presence in the western provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.

ECA is planning to open a full-service facility in the Vancouver area with sales, parts, and services for all product lines. While existing employees will have an opportunity to relocate, ECA is ready to hire new local staff for the new branch.

BIG CHANGES ON THE GO FOR MANUFACTURERS

Two manufacturers are making some major changes in the coming months. Check out Doosan’s plans for rebranding on page 12 and Hitachi’s growth in North America on page 30.