Kobelco Construction Machinery

The history of the company begins with the trading company "Kobe Seikosho", founded in 1905 in the city of Kobe . Six years later, in 1911, Kobe Seikosho was registered as a company, Kobe Steel, Ltd, which later became a large steel giant ^[3] .

The company launched its first excavator , which at the same time became the first special machine manufactured in Japan, in 1930 . They became an excavator for the mining industry - the 50K model with an electric drive . A few years later, the company released the first dragline - the 30K model, also on an electric drive. After the end of World War II , the company became more actively involved in the development of construction and special equipment. In the 1940s , she began serial production of steam and mechanical driven excavators, and in the 1950s she mastered the production of the first automobile cranes ( 10KT and 20KT ) and pile hammers ^[3] .

In 1955, the company entered into an agreement with Harnischfeger. Under this agreement, Kobelco received crane manufacturing technology. In 1956, the company began production of floating cranes (model 355KD ) and excavators (model 255A ). And two years later, in 1957 , a division of the company that produced special equipment was singled out as an independent branch, Shinko Koji KK. At the same time, production of caterpillar and truck cranes (models 255A-LC and 255TC ) is being mastered at the production facilities of the branch ^[3] .

In the 1960s , the direction of cranes began to actively develop. So, in 1962 , in the city of Akashi , the Okubo plant opened a center for scientific research, an institute for construction equipment. In the same year, the company entered into an agreement with the French engineering company Poclain, the first hydraulic excavator. In the subsequent 1970s, the company began to produce bucket loaders ( LK series). At the same time, two subsidiaries were created - Kai ( Houston , USA ) and Kisco ( Singapore ) ^[3] .

In the 1980s , the company (together with the American P&H ^[2] ) supplied a large batch of mining excavators to the USSR . By the end of the 80s, the construction machinery division of the company was transformed into an independent company, Shinko Kobelco Construction Machinery, Ltd ^[3] .

Present

In 1996, a Thai Kobelco Construction Machinery Co subsidiary was founded in Thailand. The company was created to produce steel parts for excavators. In 2007, Kobelco decided to build a second plant in Thailand. According to plans, the new plant with a total area of ​​7.2 thousand square meters will annually produce 2,400 excavators ^[4] .

In the late 1990s, the construction machinery division was reorganized again into the independent subsidiary Kobelco Construction Machinery Co. And in 2001, the company signed a general agreement "on a global alliance in the production of construction machinery" with the Dutch company CNH Global. The latter is part of the Fiat Group . According to the signed agreement, the equipment is manufactured under the brand name “Fiat Kobelco”. Three years later, the crane division becomes an independent company, Kobelco Crane Co., Ltd. And from the next, 2005 , the company once again changes the brand name for the manufactured equipment - to “New Holland Kobelco” ^[3] . At the end of 2005, an agreement was signed (between the Japanese Kobelco Construction Machinery, Ltd. and the Italian New Holland Kobelco Construction Machinery, SpA) on the supply of equipment to the Russian Federation ^[2] .

In 2010, Kobelco entered into bilateral agreements with the American company Manitowoc Cranes . According to these agreements, in North America and Europe , Kobelco crawler cranes are sold under the Manitowoc brand, and Grove all-terrain cranes in Japan are sold by Kobelco ^[5] . In June 2011 , in the suburb of Hiroshima , the company laid down another plant - with a total area of ​​35 thousand square meters. The start of the plant is expected by May of this year. The cost of building production is over $ 250 million.

And in October 2011, the company was supposed to open a new factory for the production of crawler cranes in India, in the city of Madras . According to the plans, she intends to invest 11 million euros in production facilities with a total area of ​​6.9 thousand square meters ^[6] .

Structure

Kobelco equipment is produced in factories located in three countries: in Japan , China and Thailand . The main plant of the company is located in Japan ^[4] (in Hiroshima, in Ogaki). In China, Kobelco has with local construction equipment manufacturer Sichuan Chengdu Chenggong Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. Open Joint Venture, Chengdu Kobelco Cranes Co., Ltd. There is also a joint venture established at the Indian subsidiary, Kobelco Cranes India Pvt. Ltd ^[7] .

Management and owners

• President and CEO of Kobelco Construction Machinery, Japan - Shigeto Kotani ^[8] .
• The president and CEO of Kobelco America is Terry Sheehan.
• Managing Director and CEO of Kobelco Construction Equipment India - Vikram Sharma ^[9] .

Performance Indicators

In 2009, the Kobelco Cranes division sold 270 units of cranes, and 240 in the first half of the next ^[7] .

• Official site