Hitachi upgrades European mini excavator facility

Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) NV (HCME) has upgraded its European mini excavator factory to boost manufacturing efficiency. The firm has officially opened its mini and compact excavator factory at Oosterhout, in the Netherlands. The new 8,000m2 facility is the result of an extensive modernisation programme, which commenced in January 2018. The firm says that the upgrade will increase efficiency at the factory that is responsible for producing the ZX10 to ZX85 models. It will also meet the growing
July 19, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Hitachi has officially opened its new mini excavator facility in the Netherlands

233 Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) NV (1139 HCME) has upgraded its European mini excavator factory to boost manufacturing efficiency. The firm has officially opened its mini and compact excavator factory at Oosterhout, in the Netherlands. The new 8,000m2 facility is the result of an extensive modernisation programme, which commenced in January 2018.

The firm says that the upgrade will increase efficiency at the factory that is responsible for producing the ZX10 to ZX85 models. It will also meet the growing demand for Hitachi mini and compact excavators across Europe.

The factory’s general manager, Marco Verhoef, said, “We have already doubled our output since 2014 from 2,500 to 5,000 machines by 2018. The renovation of the factory was necessary to help us grow further, and will enable us to produce more than 7,000 machines/year, according to market demand.”

As part of the upgrade, a state-of-the-art, semi-automatic assembly line has been installed, as well as new equipment and paint booths. The staff at the factory have adopted a new approach, which means completing tasks within a certain amount of time, optimising work flow. Inventory has also been reduced by following the latest lean manufacturing methods.


“Thanks to all of our dedicated personnel, we now have a fully redesigned and modernised factory, and are very proud of what we have achieved. We are ready for the future, to supply more machines at shorter delivery times and lower costs.”

Finance & Funding

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Granite pilots Volvo’s Compact Assist to new heights in Sacramento
    November 9, 2017
    While not required for its Sacramento Airport contract, Granite Construction* is getting to grips with IC specifications thanks to Volvo CE’s Compact Assist. In the US, 23 states have written intelligent compaction (IC) specifications for asphalt paving jobs and more states are expected to follow. Among those states with IC specs is California.
    Read More
  • PPRS: smarter, more sophisticated asset management is needed
    March 27, 2018
    Highway organisations around the world will need ever-more sophisticated frameworks to ensure their asset management is up-to-date and fit-for-purpose. Jacques Tavernier, chairman of PPRS Nice 2018, and Claude van Rooten, president of PIARC, the World Road Association emphasised the point at at this week’s Pavement Preservations and Recycling Summit. A nation’s roads are its first and most important “main asset … essential for a country’s economic, social and environmental development”, said van Roote
    Read More
  • A new battery facility for John Deere
    August 16, 2023
    John Deere is to build new off-highway battery facility in the US.
    Read More
  • Faster and more efficient earthmoving with machine control
    December 19, 2017
    The use of sophisticated machine control tools from Trimble has helped US contractor Beaver Excavating deliver a project more efficiently. In the US, earthworks contractor Beaver Excavating is testing Trimble’s new machine control platform and is achieving high accuracy and consistent excavation and grading in less time. Jim Sterling, survey and GPS manager for Beaver Excavating, explained that the company has been a longtime Trimble customer. Over the years, the company has added additional machine
    Read More

Highlighted Content