The need to satisfy increased worldwide demand and reduce the amount of time that customers have to wait for their machines to be delivered are the driving forces for a package of investments Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has announced. Totaling over $55 million, the production facilities in Braås and Eskilstuna, Sweden and Asheville, US will be the focus of much of the spending, and lead to a considerable increase in production output.
The investment in the Braås facility will see 25% more articulated haulers being produced by the end of 2007, increasing output to 4000 machines. With global demand for articulated haulers currently at an all time high and expectations that this product concept will continue to find new customers in developing markets, sales are expected to continue to increase. This investment is needed to respond to this positive development. Volvo CE is the worldwide leader in articulated haulers, and the increased output of the Braås factory is hoped to not only meet current demand but also win an even bigger share of the market in the future. The investment also brings with it the welcome news that around 100 new employees will be recruited to cope with the additional output.
Investments will also be directed at increasing output of Volvo CE’s cab factory in Hallsberg, Sweden, as well as at its components facility in Eskilstuna, Sweden, with a particular focus on boosting production of transmission systems.
As announced earlier this month, Volvo CE’s Asheville factory will begin building excavators as well as wheel loader and excavator cabs by the middle of 2007. The plant, in North Carolina, USA, will receive a cash injection of $25 million to increase its fabrication and assembly capabilities in order to meet growing requirements in the local excavator market. The trend to build excavators in locations other than Volvo CE’s core excavator factory in Korea has already proven successful, with production now also in China and Germany. The 40,000 m2 Asheville plant will build four of Volvo CE’s 11 excavator models – the EC160B, EC210B, EC330B, and the EC360B, for delivery to customers in the US and Canada. The manufacturing facility will continue to produce five of the 10 models of Volvo wheel loaders.
“This investment helps to ‘future proof’ us against the increasing demand that we expect for Volvo CE products in the coming years,” says Tony Helsham, Volvo CE’s president and chief executive. “Not only will we be able to get more of our most popular products into the market, but we will be able to reinforce our responsiveness to customer needs and deliver products faster while still maintaining high quality.”
June 2006
For further information, please contact
Beatrice Cardon
Volvo Construction Equipment
Avenue du Hunderenveld 10B-1082 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: int + 32 2482 5021Fax: int + 32 2675 1777
e.mail: beatrice.cardon@volvo.com
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