Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., U.S.A. and the Engines and Power Products Division of Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. recently joined together at the Maryville, Mo. engine assembly plant to celebrate seven million engines having come off the facility’s production lines. Executives recognized the accomplishment—achieved in less than 23 years—by pouring a bottle of champagne over an FX651V overhead valve v-twin engine.
The company built unit number five million in June 2007, and recent sales growth has seen a broad expansion of the production capabilities. The Maryville operation now employs 762 full-time staff, supplemented by almost 250 contract employees. The footprint exceeds 114 acres, and facility expansion has seen the plant exceed 800,000 square feet, nearly three times its original size.
According to Steve Bratt, plant manager and vice president at KMM, “The efforts of a tremendously motivated group of individuals has allowed Kawasaki to be successful here, and the largest share of the credit has to go to the Maryville area work force that staffs our planning offices and production lines.”
The company produces more than 25 different engine models in Maryville as well as having a state-of-the-art Research and Development Center at the facility. Engines are provided to some of the most well-known names in the lawn and garden industry, as well as to industrial and golf industry vehicle manufacturers.
KMM also operates a consumer products production facility in Lincoln, Neb., and it was the first foreign vehicle manufacturer to open a U.S. plant, in 1974. In the years following, numerous Japanese and German vehicle manufacturers followed suit.