Celebrating the production milestone at JCB’s Savannah, Georgia, operation are, from left: Buta Atwal, managing director of compact products; Ian Gillott, general manager of compact products; Paul Mellor, assembly technician; Dave Thacker, paint sprayer; Mark Bentley, maintenance fitter; Gary Ratcliffe, fitter; and welder Melvin Sims.Photo: JCB
JCB celebrated the production of its 100,000th compact excavator this week, promising more innovative machines to come.
The company’s first compact excavator – an 801 model weighing in at 3,307 pounds – rolled off the production line in 1989, a year when the global manufacturer produced just over 450 machines. By 1992, according to a JCB news release, the company’s compact excavator line had expanded to four models with 1,000 units produced annually.
This week, JCB celebrated the production of a 24,250-pound 100C-1 – its 100,000th compact excavator – which is now one of 22 models in the company’s compact excavator line.
JCB notes in its release on this week’s milestone that the compact excavator sector has become one of the most competitive areas of the global construction equipment market and is worth an estimated $5.85 billion annually. More than 20 major manufacturers compete for the business, JCB says, and with almost 200,000 compact excavators sold worldwide each year, it is the single largest sector of the annual 700,000-unit construction equipment market.
JCB has capitalized on the compact excavator market’s growth by investing $22 million in manufacturing technology and new product development. All told, JCB manufactures more than 300 different models of machinery. Its 22 plants are located in the United Kingdom, India and Brazil, as well as the United States.
