Mackay expands with Komatsu

Last month, the company opened the new facility that has been completed as part of a nationwide expansion program to increase capacity at sites around Australia. The multi-million dollar upgrade at the Paget plant is the first of a two-stage expansion in Mackay. 

Todd Connolly, head of marketing and corporate planning for Komatsu Australia, told Quarry that the investment was about more than just bricks and mortar.

?We are investing in more training for our technicians,? he said. This training represents an increase of 250 per cent over the past 12 months. Komatsu has increased training for every technician from two days to five days per year.

The second phase, which the company announced at the same time, features a new customer support facility, just around the corner in Bosso Street, Paget, from the existing Connors Road site. 

The new assembly operation allows Komatsu to increase production of its largest truck, the 960E, which has a haulage capacity of 330 tonnes. This is the only location in Australia where 960Es are assembled. 

 ?The central Queensland fleet of 960Es is the largest anywhere in the world, and as such our investment in Mackay is of global significance to Komatsu,? Komatsu Australia?s managing director Sean Taylor said.

This expansion enables Komatsu to increase its assembly capacity of 960E trucks by 75 per cent, and the facility now incorporates a WA1200 assembly bay. Australia accounts for over half of the global production of WA1200s each year and the WA1200 is Komatsu?s largest wheel loader with a bucket capacity of 35m³. 

A new paintshop has also been commissioned that is capable of painting ultra-class mining machinery.

{{image2-a:R-w:200}} The opening ceremony for the Paget plant facility was attended by Cr Deirdre Comerford, the Mayor of the Mackay Regional Council, Gary Waters, BOMA Group?s head of property and Dean Gaedtke, Komatsu Australia?s regional general manager for Queensland.

The new customer support site, which will open in 2014, will feature a parts warehouse almost double the size of the existing facility, a service workshop for mining and construction machinery, a track shop, washbay and offices.

?The investment in customer support reflected the company?s focus on putting customers at the centre of our business,? Gaedtke said. 

Komatsu?s expansion in Mackay forms part of the company?s largest investment in Australia. The first stage began with the commissioning of Komatsu?s assembly, remanufacturing and service facility in Wacol, Brisbane in 2012 and was followed by investments in Perth and a new national training centre in Brisbane. 

A number of new branch openings were also announced over the past 12 months in areas including Whyalla in South Australia, the La Trobe Valley in Victoria and south-western Sydney, New South Wales.

The new Queensland projects will be followed by expansions in Port Hedland, Western Australia and Sydney in 2013.