By 2018, Kobelco plans to manufacture a total of 11 excavators at its plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with the addition of four new models, the company announced.
The 156,000-square-foot plant opened in June 2016 and has been increasing production rapidly, with the goal of producing 1,800 machines a year by 2018. It currently manufactures the SK210LC-10, SK210LC-10 Long Reach, SK260LC-10 Long Reach, SK300LC-10, SK300LC-10 High & Wide, SK350LC-10 and SK500LC-10.
This fall, the plant will add the SK500LC-10 with removable counterweight and the SK210LC-10 High & Wide, the company says.
Next year, it will add two more excavators to plant production: the SK170LC-10 and the SK260LC-10.
To handle the increased capacity, Kobelco says, it is hiring 20 more employees in all operational areas and “plans to steadily increase the number of employees during the next year.”
Plant General Manager Ralph Wabnitz told GoUpstate.com in April the plant would have a total of 131 employees by next year and 159 by 2020. The company says it has created more than 100 jobs in the Spartanburg area.