Terex moved the manufacturing of its minerals processing and asphalt paving lines from its Cedar Rapids, Iowa, plant to Oklahoma City.

During the past 12 months, Terex has successfully moved production of the minerals processing and asphalt paving lines from its Cedar Rapids, Iowa, plant to Oklahoma City.

Tom Riordan, president and chief operating officer of Terex Corporation, spoke during a May 2010 event to mineral processing dealer principals about transferring the manufacturing of Terex’s crushing equipment line to the company’s Oklahoma City facility and gave dealer principals the opportunity to see the first crushing equipment models produced in the new facility.

“We had a long heritage and remarkable team in Cedar Rapids, but the facility had too many challenges to overcome to continue manufacturing operations,” Riordan said in a written statement about transferring the manufacturing. “Oklahoma City is a key site for Terex, and the workforce has the unique expertise to build highly complex equipment such as the crushing line.”

The Oklahoma City facility is 675,000 square feet of manufacturing space and one of the largest Terex sites in the world. The company has made significant investment at the site to implement lean manufacturing principles.

Tom Riordan, president and chief operating officer, says that Terex has "considerable cash on hand to invest in products, customers and facilities."

Terex says the lean manufacturing philosophy of eliminating waste has helped to clear the manufacturing space required for additional capacity, while advancing quality standards.

“Product quality is monitored at various stages throughout the manufacturing process rather than just after the machine is completed,” explains Don Anderson, general manager of Terex Roadbuilding, in a written statement.

The Terex Oklahoma City campus also includes a 30,000-square-foot training facility. The center features large, overhead doors that allow for equipment to be brought inside for in-depth hands-on training.

“Most of the Terex business segments have taken advantage of this facility’s centralized location for technical and sales training,” Riordan notes.

Several upgrades were made to the manufacturing facility in preparation for adding paving and crushing equipment production. Specialized line components, higher capacity cranes and new bay doors were added to accommodate the large portable crushing equipment. The Terex Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System, which will ultimately link all Terex business units together, is currently being installed at the Oklahoma City facility.

During the new line integration process, Terex ramped up production of its existing asphalt and concrete equipment lines to avoid disruption of finished product deliveries. “The economic downturn helped us to move forward with new line integration without disrupting our existing business in Oklahoma City,” said Riordan.