The company Komatsu, founded in 1921, is a leading producer of construction and mining machinery in the CIS, Europe and Asia.
Initially the company produced mining equipment, but later moved into the niche production of mechanical processing equipment and industrial press machines. Komutsu started producing agricultural tractors in the 1930s and bulldozers in the 1940s, and later moved into the manufacturing of motor graders, dump trucks for use in quarries and various types of loaders. Since 1968 Komatsu has produced hydraulic dump trucks. The company opened its first office in the USSR in 1968, which means it has been operating in this country for more than 40 years. Today the company is the second biggest producer of construction equipment in the world and the biggest producer in Asia.
In early June Komatsu finished construction on a new subsidiary production facility in Yaroslavl. Komatsu Manufacturing Rus became the first Komatsu assembly plant in Russia and the 25th in the world. Considered one of Komatsu's flagship enterprises, the facility occupies an area of 50,200 square metres. When it hits its design capacity of 3,000 excavators a year it will employ up to 500 workers.
The plant officially launched production on June 2 of this year. It is the first foreign-owned industrial enterprise to build construction equipment in Russia entirely from start to finish.
The new plant will produce PC200, PC220, PC300 and PC400 hydraulic excavators, starting with the PC400 and then introducing other models in accordance with the demands of the Russian market. This year the company expects to begin producing mining equipment for the construction of natural gas pipelines. State-of-the-art equipment has been installed in the production facility, and the production technology incorporates some of the best know-how in the industry. The company also opened a training centre with a modern welding robot and a mini-excavator at Yaroslavl State Technical University to educate students and provide workshops. The new Komatsu production facility in Yaroslavl will lower the prices of its products for Russian buyers, reduce delivery times and allow Russian consumers to take advantage of the company's full after-sale maintenance services.