Takeuchi Celebrates 1000th CTL Manufactured in the U.S.
Takeuchi-US celebrated a significant milestone when the 1000th compact track loader – a TL12R2 model – rolled off the assembly line at the manufacturer’s facility in Moore, S.C. This 156,000-square-foot production facility, Takeuchi’s first in North America, officially began assembling compact track loaders on September 22, 2022.
“It’s been quite a journey so far,” said Jeff Stewart, president of Takeuchi-US. “Bringing our track loader production to the U.S., while exciting for all of us, required a great deal of planning and collaboration. From locating the right location here in Moore to bringing in all the necessary production equipment to hiring new employees in a tight labor market, it was truly a team effort. The fact that it took us less than seven months to produce our 1000th machine is remarkable.”
Stewart and Ralph Wabnitz, director of manufacturing for Takeuchi-US, joined employees at the South Carolina facility to celebrate the production milestone with a company meeting and lunch. Employees also received commemorative “1000th Machine” stickers for their hard hats and took a group photo marking the achievement.
Takeuchi announced its acquisition of the Moore, S.C., plant one year ago in April 2022. The company previously produced track loaders at one of its factories in the Nagano province of Japan. However, upon observing the North American market’s growing demand for Takeuchi compact track loaders over time, Takeuchi chose to begin assembling the machines in the U.S. This decision has eliminated the need to ship track loaders from an overseas facility to North American dealers and customers. As Takeuchi’s global markets expand, the company expects to export some machines from the U.S. to other countries.
“We started out with just 10 employees at this facility a few short months ago,” said Wabnitz. “Today, we have 117 on staff, with a goal of 140 by the end of 2023. Our plan is to assemble all Takeuchi CTL models here in Moore by the end of 2023. I’m very proud of what our team here has accomplished, and I look forward to seeing what new milestones we’re able to achieve in the months and years ahead.”
For more information about Takeuchi track loaders, excavators and wheel loaders, visit www.takeuchi-us.com.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.