Komatsu UK celebrates its 20th Anniversary

Komatsu UK (KUK) was first establish in 1985 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd. The UK-based site is one of the major production facilities for construction and mining equipment in the Komatsu Group. The KUK facility, which is located in the north east of the England near the city of Newcastle, was officially opened by His Royal Highness The Prince Of Wales in July 1987. KUK was the first Japanese manufacturing subsidiary in the UK for construction equipment manufacturing, and supplies the European and North African market with products ranging from PC160 to PC800.

In 1987 KUK produced 442 hydraulic excavators. Through steady expansion and increased production capacity over the years, the UK facility produced 4606 units in fiscal 2006, which ended March 31 2007. In this 20th anniversary year KUK will achieve a cumulative factory shipment volume of 54,432 units, as well as seeing its workforce increase from 300 employees in 1987 to 750 today.

Peter Howe Managing Director of KUK stresses, "The secret to our success in the UK is down to the excellent team work and communication between our UK and Japanese employees. During the course of our growth, we have placed continuous efforts on improving quality, cost and delivery to our customers, as well as becoming a part of the local community. As European markets, including those in eastern Europe, are expected to continue to grow further, we are determined to further expand our production capacity at KUK and become number 1 in Europe."

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