MANITOU Group has marked the opening of its Madison, South Dakota 80,000 sq ft expansion project, which coincides with the company’s 50th anniversary of manufacturing skid loaders.
The ribbon cutting took place with with Jacqueline Himsworth (chairman of the board of Manitou Group), Michel Denis (president & CEO of Manitou Group), and state/local representatives.
“It is a very exciting time for Manitou Group as we celebrate the official opening of our new assembly building,” said plant manager Jeff Minnaert. “While this is not the end of the project, it is the largest portion that will give us the biggest impact on increasing our production to meet our future demands.
“In addition to the building, we are implementing a number of improvements that will continue to enhance our work environment and help Manitou Group be the employer of choice in Madison.”
The new expansion plan renovates and extends the existing 50-year old 325,000 sq ft building. There is now an enlarged assembly line, enabling all assembly processes to occur within the same building. The number of workstations has increased by 30% to 19. A new shipping centre of excellence has also been established by repurposing one of the former assembly buildings.
Franck Buisard, VP of the product unit compact and articulated loaders and MD for Manitou Equipment America, added, “We announced a massive investment in our South Dakota facilities 18 months ago. Now we’ve completed the expansion plan of our Madison facility and we will be able to start production utilising our new assembly line for our new skid and track loader range presented at Conexpo in March, 2023.
“It was a clear challenge for the team to be ready on time and I’m proud of all the work they accomplished. We will now work on increasing the output of our production lines by more than 150% by 2026. Our next step will be the go-live of our Yankton, South Dakota facility expansion in mid 2024.”
