Bobcat Invests $17 Million in Gwinner Manufacturing Facility
Bobcat Company, a global leader in the compact equipment industry, announced plans for a $17 million investment at its Gwinner, N.D., manufacturing facility.
“We are excited to strengthen our North Dakota manufacturing footprint,” said Mike Ballweber, president of Doosan Bobcat North America. “This project emphasizes our commitment to continuous improvement and to the Gwinner operation. As the industry leader, we will continue to invest in our operations to meet the demand for our products.”
The investment plan calls for installing a new, state-of-the art powder-coat paint line and adding 30,000 square feet of manufacturing space to the Gwinner facility, which currently has 750,000 square-feet. The investment in the painting process is designed to increase powder-paint capacity and enhance quality, as well as provide space for additional verification tests.
"This investment is a strategic step to advance our commitment to quality and manufacturing excellence," said James Flynn, vice president of operations at Bobcat Company. “This expansion will allow us to support our new R-series loaders and prepare for future demand and growth.”
Construction for the expansion is expected to begin immediately. The paint line improvements will be completed in three phases, with full project completion expected in July 2020.
The Gwinner factory complex, established in 1947, manufactures Bobcat loaders, utility work machines and attachments. Doosan Bobcat, North Dakota’s largest manufacturer, employs more than 3,000 people in the state.
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.