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Komatsu builds ?one stop shop? super site in Queensland

Effective from January 2011, Komatsu Australia has begun building a new super site at Wacol, southwest of Brisbane. The centre will be a ?one stop shop? for Komatsu?s Queensland customers, with sales, service, and assembly of mining and utility equipment taking place on-site. This will include the assembly of up to 70 ?ultra-class? dump trucks per year, injecting $50 million into the local economy in total project expenditure. The facility will also house Komatsu?s national Mining Division head office and service a national customer base through a state of the art remanufacturing centre.

The construction of more than 14,000m2 of workshop and assembly facilities on the 56,000m2 site will create over 400 jobs and when complete the Wacol site will employ over 200 people.

At the announcement of the new facility in December, Komatsu Australia president Bill Pike said the Wacol facility was the company?s single biggest investment in its 45 years of Australian operations.

?Wacol marks the start of a strategic nationwide expansion programme for Komatsu,? he said. ?Significant investment by the company in Queensland will enhance our capability and commitment to our customers in the Australian marketplace. The new Wacol facility will allow us to more than meet the requirements of our customers in southeast Queensland and right across Australia long into the future.?

Komatsu received significant support through the Queensland Government?s Investment Incentives Scheme. The Brisbane City Council also assisted Komatsu with site selection and the development approvals process through the Investment Attraction division of Brisbane Marketing.

Andrew Fraser, the Queensland Treasurer and Minister for Employment and Economic Development, said the attraction of Komatsu?s Remanufacturing Centre to Queensland was further proof the State is a great place to do business.

?The Government?s policy framework is acutely focused on attracting investments like this for the benefit of our economy and local jobseekers,? Andrew Fraser said. ?Komatsu will make a significant contribution to the community, making 41 apprenticeship positions available to jobseekers and further bolstering the high growth in the mining equipment and technology sector.

?Wacol has a strong manufacturing and industrial history, acting as an employment hub for the area, so it was a natural fit for Komatsu to set up shop there. We want to continue to see investment like this in our State and have put in place the policies and business incentives to achieve that result.?

Bill Pike announced that the new Wacol development will feature several cutting edge environmental measures and is planned around the principle of ecological sustainability. Rainwater harvesting, energy-efficient lighting, temperature-controlling insulation and a bio-retention basin will all minimise the site?s environmental impact.

?The Wacol site is designed to incorporate a variety of high tech environmental control measures as part of the company?s global commitment to reducing its ecological footprint,? he said. ?In early 2011, Komatsu will launch the world?s first diesel electric hybrid excavator on the Australian market.?

To complement the Wacol development, Komatsu Australia is finalising plans for the expansion of its Mackay assembly facility. Stage one of this multi-million dollar expansion began in November 2010 with the relocation of Komatsu?s spare parts warehouse to an all new state of the art facility in Mackay. Construction of the expanded Mackay assembly facility will be completed late in 2011, allowing the company to expand production of its largest dump truck, the 960E electric-drive.

Komatsu says the 960E, with a payload rating exceeding 360 tonnes, is in strong demand in the Bowen Basin region of Queensland. An expanded Mackay facility will provide enhanced delivery to key customers.

Construction of the Wacol facility will span a year, with final fit-out to take place late in 2011. The site opens on 1 January, 2012.

Source: Komatsu Australia

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