(formally J C Bamford Excavators Limited)[3] is a British Multinational corporation, with headquarters in Rocester, United Kingdom. engaged in the manufacture of equipment for construction, demolition and agriculture. It is the worlds third-largest construction equipment manufacturer.[4] It produces over 300 types of machines, including diggers ( Backhoes), excavators, tractors and diesel engines. It has 18 factories across Asia, Europe, North America, and South America; its products are sold in over 150 countries.[2][5] The firm was founded in 1945 by Joseph Cyril Bamford, after whom it is named, and continues to be owned by the Bamford family. In the UK JCB is often used colloquially as a generic description for mechanical diggers and excavators and now appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, although it is still held as a trademark. [6] History 20th century The firm was founded by Joseph Cyril Bamford in October 1945 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. He rented a lock-up garage 12 feet by 15 feet. In it, using a welding set which he bought second-hand for £1 from English Electric, he made his first vehicle, a tipping trailer from war-surplus materials. The trailers sides and floor were made from steel sheet that had been part of air-raid shelters. On the same day as his son Anthony was born, he sold the trailer at a nearby market for £45 (plus a part- exchanged farm cart) and at once made another trailer. At one time he made vehicles in Eckersleys coal yard in Uttoxeter. The first trailer and the welding set have been preserved: JCBs first welding set The first vehicle JCB made (a farm trailer) . In 1948, six people were working for the company, and it made the first hydraulic tipping trailer in Europe. In 1950, it moved to an old cheese factory in Rocester, still employing six. A year later, he began painting his products yellow. In 1953, his first backhoe loader was launched, and the JCB logo appeared for the first time. It was designed by Derby Media and advertising designer Leslie Smith. In 1957, the firm launched the hydra-digga, incorporating the excavator and the major loader as a single all- purpose tool useful for the agricultural and construction industries.[7] In 1960, JCBs hydraulic tractors entered the North American market, proving a long-lasting success. JCB became, and still is, the brand leader in the world. By 1964, JCB had sold over 3,000 3C backhoe loaders. The next year, the first 360-degree excavator was introduced, the JCB 7.[8] In 1978, the Loadall machine was introduced. The next year, JCB started its operation in India. In 1991, the firm entered a joint venture with Sumitomo of Japan to produce excavators, which ended in 1998.[9] Two years later, a JCB factory was completed in Pooler near Savannah, Georgia in the USA, and the next year a factory was opened in Brazil. 21st century Production of the first engine designed and manufactured by JCB, the JCB444 diesel engine, started in 2004.[10] In 2005, for the first time in nearly forty years, JCB bought a company, purchasing the German equipment firm Vibromax. In the same year, the firm opened a new factory in Pudong China . By 2006, the firm had 4000 employees, twice what it had in 1975. Planning of a new £40 million pound JCB Heavy Products site began in 2007,[11] and by the next year, the firm began to move from its old site in Pinfold Street in Uttoxeter to the new site beside the A50; the Pinfold Street site was demolished in 2009. During that year, JCB announced plans to make India its largest manufacturing hub. Its factory at Ballabgarh in Haryana, was to become the world’s largest backhoe loader manufacturing facility.[12] The firm shed 2,000 jobs during the recession, but in 2010 it announced it was recruiting up to 200 new workers.[13] Operations JCB factory and park at Rocester The Fossor, at the JCB headquarters in Rocester JCB has 18 factories in the UK, Germany, North and South America, India, and China.[5] The company employs some 7,000 people on four continents and sells its products in 150 countries through 1500 dealer depot locations. The company has a range of more than 300 products.[14] The firm is headquartered in Rocester, United Kingdom, which is also the production site for backhoe loaders and telescopic Loadall handlers. It has a further three factories in nearby Cheadle, Staffordshire (JCB Earthmovers, JCB Landpower and JCB Compact Products), one in Rugeley (JCB Cab Systems), three in Uttoxeter (JCB Attachments, JCB Heavy Products and JCB World Parts Centre), one in Foston in Derbyshire (JCB Power Systems) and one in Wrexham in North Wales (JCB Transmissions). Its Indian factories are based in Ballabgarh (Haryana) and Pune, its US factory is in Pooler, Georgia, its Brazilian factory in Sorocaba, and its Chinese factory was completed in 2005 in Pudong near Shanghai. JCB also owns Vibromax, a German compaction equipment company based in Gatersleben. The company has also licensed its name and image to a line of consumer power tools, manufactured by Alba PLC. The products are sold through franchised dealerships, many of which are often exclusive and cover whole countries.[15] Products Many of the vehicles produced by JCB are variants of the backhoe loader, including tracked or wheeled variants, mini and large versions and other variations for carrying and moving items, for example fork lift vehicles and telescopic handlers for moving materials to the upper floors of a building site. Wheeled loading shovels and articulated dump truc
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 06:56:44 +0000