JAPANESE

History


Jan,1917 Takeuchi Mining Industry (founded in 1894) established Komatsu Iron Works to manufacture machine tools and mining equipment for in-house use.
May,1921 Komatsu Iron Works separated from Takeuchi Mining Co. to become Komatsu Ltd.
1924 Komatsu built its first press, a 450-ton sheet-forming press.
Oct,1931 Produced Japan's first crawler-type farm tractor.
Oct,1935 Began production of high-grade castings and special steel materials after years of research.
May,1938 Established the Awazu Plant.
Nov,1941 Began production of large hydraulic presses.
Jan,1943 Produced the Komatsu Model 1 Ground Leveling Machine (the prototype of Japan's bulldozers).
Dec,1943 Completed construction of a large press-assembly shop at the Komatsu Plant.
Dec,1947 Introduced the D50 bulldozer.
Feb,1948 Began diesel engine production.
Aug,1951 Relocated head office from Ishikawa(Komatsu City) to Tokyo.
Oct,1952 Opened the Osaka Plant.
Oct,1952 Began production of motor graders.
Dec,1952 Established the Kawasaki and Himi plants following the acquisitions of Ikegai Automobile Manufacturing Company and Chuetsu Electro Chemical Co., Ltd., respectively.
Jan,1953 Began production of forklift trucks.
Nov,1953 Began production of dump trucks and special purpose vehicles.
Mar,1954 Started production of shell-mold precision castings.
Jan,1955 Exported motor graders to Argentina (Komatsu's first export of construction equipment).
Aug,1955 Exported 400-ton multipurpose hydraulic presses to Argentina (Komatsu's first export of presses).
Sep,1956 Began production of shovel loaders.
Sep,1958 Signed a technical assistance agreement with India's Ministry of Defense to locally manufacture tractors
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Sep,1961 Introduced the company-wide quality control (QC) program.
Nov,1961 Signed a technology tie-up agreement for the diesel engines with Cummins Engine Co., Inc. of the United States.
Dec,1962 Opened the Oyama Plant.
Jun,1963 Entered technology license tie-up with Bucyrus-Erie of the United States concerning hydraulic excavators (terminated in March 1981).
1964 Opened Komatsu's first overseas liaison office in India.
Nov,1964 Received the Deming Prize for quality control.
Dec,1964 Reached agreement for a joint venture with International Harvester of the United States (terminated in January 1982).
1965 Began production of wheel loaders.
Mar,1966 Completed construction of the present Tokyo Head Office (Komatsu Building).
Jan,1967 Established N.V. Komatsu Europe S.A., Komatsu's first overseas subsidiary in Belgium.
Oct,1968 Began production of hydraulic excavators.
Dec,1968 Completed construction of an integrated production facility for diesel engines at the Oyama Plant.
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Feb,1970 Established Komatsu America Corp. in the United States.
Jan,1971 Established Komatsu Singapore Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.
Dec,1972 Launched the business of small presses.
Apr,1973 Completed construction of the Himi Plant for steel-castings.
Sep,1974 Established Dina Komatsu Nacional S.A. de C.V. in Mexico.
Apr,1975 Komatsu do Brasil Ltda. produced the D50A bulldozer, marking Komatsu's first offshore production of construction equipment.
Oct,1977 Marketed the small-diameter pipe jacking system.
Feb,1979 Established Komatsu Australia Pty., Ltd. in Australia.
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Jul,1980 Developed a super-large combination press line.
Nov,1981 Received the Japan Quality Control Prize.
Dec,1982 Established PT Komatsu Indonesia (production began in 1983) in Indonesia.
Mar,1984 Introduced laser machines on the market.
Feb,1985 Established Komatsu America Manufacturing Corp. in the United States.
Aug,1985 Established Komatsu America Industries LLC in the United States.
Dec,1985 Established Komatsu UK Ltd. in the United Kingdom.
Aug,1986 Established Komatsu Industries Europe GmbH. in Germany.
Sep,1988 Established Komatsu Dresser Company in the United States.
Jul,1989 Made equity participation in Hanomag AG of Germany.
Dec,1989 Established Komatsu Europe International N.V. in Belgium to coordinate and expand Komatsu's operations in Europe.
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Dec,1990 Completed construction of a leading-edge FA facility for hydraulic equipment at the Oyama Plant.
Dec,1990 Completed construction of a leading-edge FA facility for hydraulic excavator assembly at the Osaka Plant.
May,1991 Introduced a new corporate brand logotype and announced a corporate message.
Oct,1991 Established NS Komatsu Pty. Ltd., in Australia. (renamed Komatsu Australia Pty. Ltd. in June 2001)
Nov,1991 Completed construction of casting plant at Komatsu Indonesia.
Nov,1991 Made equity participation in Fai S.p.A. in Italy.
Aug,1992 Komatsu UK launched wheeled excavator on the European market.
Sep,1993 Established Applied Komatsu Technology, Inc., a joint venture to produce LCD manufacturing systems, with Applied Materials, Inc. of the United States (sold to Applied Materials in October 1999).
Oct,1993 Established Komatsu Cummins Engine Co., Ltd. and Cummins Komatsu Engine Company, in Japan and the United States, respectively.
Nov,1993 Established Komatsu Huanan Ltd. in Hong Kong.
Jun,1994 Established Komatsu Industries Corporation and Komatsu Machinery Corporation.
Aug,1994 Completed construction of a transmission assembly plant at the Awazu Plant.
Mar,1995 Established Komatsu Saigon Co., Ltd. in Vietnam.
Apr,1995 Started sales of Excimer laser, as the main light source for next generation steppers.
May,1995 Established Komatsu Changlin Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (renamed Komatsu(Changzhou) Construction Machinery Corporation in November 2000) in China.
May,1995 Hanomag AG renamed Komatsu Hanomag AG.
Jun,1995 The world's largest dump truck 930E developed by Komatsu Dresser Company.
Jul,1995 Began worldwide shipment of D41medium-sized bulldozers manufactured by Komatsu do Brasil Ltda.
Aug,1995 Established Komatsu Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. in China.
Sep,1995 Established Komatsu Changlin Foundry Corporation(renamed as Komatsu (Changzhou) Foundry Corporation in November 2000) in China.
Sep,1995 Established FKI Fai Komatsu Industries S.p.A. (renamed Komatsu Utility Europe S.p.A. in June 2000) in Italy.
Oct,1995 PT Komatsu Indonesia Tbk listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange.
Oct,1995 Concluded the sales and service agency contract for laser cutting machines with TRUMPF GmbH+Co. KG of Germany
Nov,1995 Established Bangkok Komatsu Co., Ltd. in Thailand.
Jan,1996 Komatsu Dresser Company renamed Komatsu America International Company.
Jan,1996 Established Demag Komatsu GmbH (renamed Komatsu Mining Germany GmbH in February 1999) in Germany.
Jan,1996 Made equity participation in Modular Mining Systems, Inc. of the United States.
Jul,1996 Established Komatsu (Shanghai) Ltd., in China.
Oct,1996 Established Komatsu Asia & Pacific Pte. Ltd. in Singapore as a supervisory company of the Asia Pacific region.
Feb,1997 Established Komatsu Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd. in South Africa.
Apr,1997 Established Komatsu Mining Systems, Inc. in the United States.
Jul,1997 Established Komatsu Utility Corporation in the United States.
Oct,1997 Established Komatsu Castex Ltd. in Japan by spinning off the steel casting division.
Jan,1998 Established Industrial Power Alliance Ltd. in Japan as a joint venture with Cummins Engine of the United States for engine development.
Feb,1998 Established L&T-Komatsu Limited. in India.
Feb,1998 Established KRANEKS International Company Limited in Russia.
Jul,1998 Established Komatsu Brasil International Ltda. in Brazil.
Jan,1999 Established Komatsu Middle East FZE. in U.A.E. as a supervisory company for the construction equipment business in the Middle East region.
Apr,1999 Started OEM supply of small diesel engines for industrial-use equipment to Cummins Engine.
May,1999 Established Komatsu Cummins Chile Ltda., a holding company of construction and mining equipment sales distributors in Chile, as a joint venture with Cummins Engine.
Jun,1999 Reorganized the Board of Directors and introduced "Executive Officers" and "Global Officers" system.
Sep,1999 Launched the world's largest mechanical-drive WA1200 wheel loader.
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Feb,2000 Agreed to establish global collaboration with the Linde Group of Germany in the manufacture and sales of lift trucks and related products.
Apr,2000 Agreed to extend the existing tie-up in the sheet metal machine industry on more international basis with TRUMPF GmbH+Co. KG of Germany.
Aug,2000 Established GIGAPHOTON Inc., a joint venture in the Excimer laser business with Ushio Inc.
Nov,2000 Acquired Hensley Industries, Inc., an American construction and mining equipment component maker.
Dec,2000 Decided to establish PT Komatsu Undercarriage Indonesia to manufacture components for the crawlers of construction equipment.
Jan,2001 Established Komatsu (China) Ltd., a holding company in China.
Apr,2001 Oyama plant achieved "Zero Emission" first among Japan's construction equipment manufacturers.
May,2001 Announced the new brand "GALEO"; Komatsu's new-generation construction equipment for customers worldwide.
Jan,2002 Founded "Newberry Manufacturing Operation," a facility for utility equipment, in the United Sates.
May,2002 5 plants in Japan achieved "Zero Emission."
Apr,2002 Established Komatsu Italy S.p.A. in Italy.
Apr,2002 Signed a letter of intent for production of wheel loader cabs with Volvo Construction Equipment's cab plant.
May, 2003 Delivered an electronic dumptruck "730E" manufactured by Komatsu America Corp. to Nittetsu Mining Co., Ltd in Kouchi pref.
Oct, 2003 Took 10 billion yen orders for crude oil and natural gas development projects in Russia.
Oct, 2003 Established Komatsu Forklift (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd. in China as a sales company for forklifts.
Jan, 2004 Established Komatsu Forest AB acquiring Partek Forest AB, a manufacturer and distributer of forestry equipment in Sweden.
Jan, 2004 Established Komatsu Industries (Shanghai) Ltd. in China as a sales company for industrial machineries.
Apr, 2004 Established Hensley Lingfeng Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of teeth for construction equipment.
Jun, 2004 Established Komatsu Zenoah (Shandong) Machine Co .,Ltd (renamed Komatsu Utility Machine Co., Ltd. in 2007) in China, a manufacturer of mini excavators and hydraulic equipment.
Jun, 2004 Established Komatsu Power Generation Systems (Shanghai) Ltd in China, a manufacturer of power generators.
Aug, 2004 Established Komatsu Forklift Manufacturing (China) Co., Ltd in China, a manufacturer of forklift trucks.
Aug, 2004 Ayumi Tanimoto, a member of the Komatsu Women's Judo Club, won a gold medal in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Sep, 2004 Established PT.Pandu Dayatama Patria in Indonesia, a manufacturer of hydraulic equipment.
Dec, 2004 Began production of PC3000, super large-sized excavator, in Rokko Plant.
May, 2005 Completed construction of one of the world's largest acoustic testing laboratories.
Jul, 2005 Sold polysilicon business (ASiMI) to SGS Holdings Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the Norwegian company Renewable Energy Corporation.
Oct, 2005 Developed the frontier engine technology "ecot3" compliant to Tier III emission standards.
Nov, 2005 Began production of dump trucks in China.
Aug, 2006 Changed the number of shares constituting one unit(tangen) of shares from 1,000 to 100.
Oct, 2006 Sold out 51% of Komatsu Electronic Metal's stock to SUMCO CORPORATION.
Nov, 2006 Marked 50th anniversary of participation in the China's market.
Jan, 2007 Completed the construction of three new plants, i.e. Ibaraki Plant, Kanazawa Plant (both in Japan) and Chennai Plant (in India).
Apr, 2007 Integrated Komatsu Forklift Co., Ltd. and Komatsu Zenoah into new Komatsu Utility Co., Ltd.
Oct, 2007 Established Komatsu Undercarriage China Corp. in China.
Feb, 2008 Established Komatsu Manufacturing Rus, LLC in Russia. (Scheduled to launch production in June 2010)
Mar, 2008 Made NIPPEI TOYAMA (renamed Komatsu NTC Ltd. in October 2008) Corporation a wholly owned subsidiary.
Jun, 2008 Introduced the world's first hybrid hydraulic excavator.
Aug, 2008 Ayumi Tanimoto won a gold medal in the Beijing Olympic Games (her second straight victory.)
Dec, 2008 Began operation of the autonomous haulage systems at the mine of Rio Tinto in Australia.
Mar, 2009 Completed joint project with Japan Mine Action Service for community reconstruction in Cambodia.
Apr, 2009 Reorganized Japanese sales and service structure for construction equipment and established Komatsu Construction Equipment Sales and Service Japan Ltd.
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Apr,2010 Succeed to the product development and sales & service operations of the large press business of the Industrial Machinery Division to Komatsu Industries Corporation by way of an absorption-type corporate split.
Apr,2011 Merged with Komatsu Utility Co., Ltd.
Apr,2011 Komatsu NTC Ltd. and Komatsu Machinery Corporation merged. Merged with Komatsu Engineering Corp.
May,2011 "Komatsu-no-Mori" Created in Komatsu City, Home to Komatsu Ltd.
May,2011 Gigaphoton Inc. has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Komatsu.
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