Terex to transfer crane production from Iowa to Oklahoma City

On Tuesday July 19 Terex Cranes stopped producing cranes at its Waverly, Iowa facility in the USA.

The company shut down the plant and will expand North American cranes production at its Oklahoma City facility, allowing the company to maximize its existing manufacturing footprint, the company announced. Effective July 19, Terex closed production of rough terrain cranes, truck cranes and boom trucks in Waverly. Production in OKC of the lines previously built in Waverly is expected to start in September.

Layoffs will affect roughly 100 production team members, the company said. Approximately 100 jobs will remain in the Waverly area to support Terex Global Business Systems, which is not affected by the plant shutdown. Some 75 non-production, commercial office, design & engineering and purchasing team members will remain in place during the transition.

“The continuing objective of the global Terex Cranes business is to be the most customer-responsive company in the industry and our customers’ long-term sustainable business partner,” said Dean Barley, Terex Cranes vice president and general manager, in a press release.

“To achieve this, especially in today’s challenging economy, we must carefully control our costs and ensure our manufacturing footprint is efficient, so we make the best use of our resources as we build for the future. The transfer of our Waverly product lines to our Oklahoma City location is consistent with our continuing strategy to win in the marketplace by optimizing our manufacturing footprint, investing in the future and aligning our costs with market demands,” Barley continued.

The Terex campus in Oklahoma City sits on roughly 100 acres, has close to 700,000 square feet (65,000 square meters) under roof and currently produces five models of the Terex HC Series crawler cranes. Company officials plan for an integration of the Waverly products, including 16 RT models, 11 boom trucks and four telescopic truck cranes by September 2016.

Terex has recently made multi-million dollar investments in upgrades at the Terex campus in Oklahoma City, so it is ready to handle the additional manufacturing capacity required by the integration of the three product lines previously manufactured in Waverly, the company said.

Terex cited that the centrally located Oklahoma City campus is ideal for transportation of cranes and raw materials and for shipping finished goods and that it is also within driving distance of the Port of Houston for improved access to import and export.

“By centralizing production in Oklahoma City, we anticipate great efficiency, economies of scale and excellent customer outreach opportunities, so we can increase our customer-responsiveness,” Barley said.