Ninety new workers have been hired by Paccar”s Columbus plant, as the maker of engines for commercial trucks readies to begin production by the end of the year.
The plant, located just north of the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, will manufacture 12.9-liter engines for Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF, three well-known trucking brands.
“We currently have about 90 people,” said Plant Manager Lex Lemmers. “We”re currently making sure we train them in groups. We have to do a proper training to bring them up to speed before they start assembling engines.”
Lemmers added the hiring process isn”t over. The current estimate for the final required employee head count is just over 100, but that number is subject to change depending on the company”s financial success in the fourth quarter.
In the summer months, the plant has been installing equipment and running diagnostics to make sure the machines will be ready to produce engines safely and efficiently.
“We”re currently in full testing of our assembly equipment, which is going fine,” Lemmers said.
The company broke ground on the 400,000-square-foot facility in 2007 for $400 million and agreed to provide 500 jobs by 2013. When the recession hit in 2008, the factory”s opening date was pushed back.
Robin Easton, a spokesman at the Paccar”s Washington office, said the plant is on schedule.
“Things have been progressing well, and we expect to commence production later on in the year,” Easton said.
The factory is on schedule to begin manufacturing as soon as December, at which point it will begin shipping the newly assembled engines to the company”s other factories to be installed into the truck chassis.
Paccar, the world”s third-largest manufacturer of commercial trucks, has nearly 1,800 dealer locations worldwide and sells products in more than 100 countries, including an expanding market in Asia. Almost half of the company”s profit comes from its involvement outside the United States.
MAKING A PACCAR ENGINE
An engine”s journey through the Mississippi Paccar plant in four steps:
1. Components are first gathered and assembled to create the 12.9-liter beast of an engine that will be responsible for hauling commercial freight all across the country.
2. The engine then undergoes a rigorous set of tests and diagnostics to make sure there were no mistakes in the production line and that it will perform reliably.
3. The engine is calibrated to ensure the fuel will interact properly with the system when it is introduced for the first time.
4. Finally, a water-based paint is applied to the engine, which is then sent to Paccar”s other facilities to be paired with a truck.
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