Kobelco expands mini excavator production capacity

Kobelco Construction Machinery (KCM) has announced that it will expand the production capacity of its Ogaki Plant in Japan, which produces mini-excavators, in order to adapt quickly to the changing business environment.

The new hydraulic excavator assembly line at Ogaki Plant will have a capacity of 3,000 units a year. KCM is also increasing the plant’s fabrication capacity in order to increase the plant’s production capacity from 8,500 to 11,500 units a year.

The new assembly line will handle the 7-ton machines, which are also manufactured at Itsukaichi Plant in Hiroshima, and the 5-ton machines, which are also manufactured at the Ogaki Plant’s existing line. The company says this will establish a mutually complementary production system with Itsukaichi Plant, enabling flexible production according to the changes in the number of machines.

In a press release, the company noted that although global demand for hydraulic excavators declined due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been mostly steady in the advanced countries and the segment is expected to see good growth in the future.