MCG US expands Port Washington

Manitowoc Crane Group (MCG) has broken ground on a US$7.4 million expansion to its Port Washington facility in Wisconsin, US.

The 23,000 square foot (2,137 m2) addition will house a new machining centre as well as a 4,000 square foot (372 m2) painting area. Following the work, the Port Washington factory will be responsible for building the entire lower works of Manitowoc's Model 16000, among others.

Central to the plans is the installation of a new boring bar, a large metal cutting tool, which will machine crawler side frames and carbodies.

Construction work at the site began in early August and is due to be completed by January 2008. This will be followed by the installation of the boring bar in June. The expansion will create 25 more at the facility, said MCG, adding to the existing 106 employees at the Port Washington fabrication site Larry Weyers, executive vice president for the Americas region, said the addition was one example of how MCG is responding to customers. “This new machining centre at the Port Washington facility means that MCG can add capacity and more advanced capability to our US-based manufacturing operations. This not only helps the local economy in terms of job creation, but continues the tradition of the Manitowoc Crane Group being a manufacturing leader in all of the regions that it serves throughout the world.”