Industry Updates

Two sets of veterans in quick coupler technology have joined forces to form company to bring coupler products, buckets and additional work tools to customers in North America. MillerBaird LLC will be headed up by Randy and James Baird, founders and former principals with JRB Company, Inc., as well as Keith, Gary and Jacqui Miller of European coupler manufacturer, Miller U.K. Ltd.  The partnership, driven by mutual areas of product expertise, as well as a belief in the value of customer service, and a confidence that North America will emerge from the current slowdown brings together two of the world’s premier players in loader and excavator coupler technology.

Headquartered out of Akron, Ohio, MillerBaird recently launched its Pin Grabber Advanced fully-automatic coupler for hydraulic excavators to the North American market.

Morbark recently announced the signing of a dealership agreement with Strongco Ltd. Partnership in Western Canada. With Strongco’s five locations in Alberta, Morbark customers in western Canada now have convenient access to equipment, service and sales. Strongco is one of the largest multi-line industrial equipment distribution providers in Canada.

The Komatsu-Cummins Engine Co.  in Japan has achieved a major manufacturing milestone with the production of the 500,000th engine from the Oyama joint venture operation. Engine number 500,000 came off the Oyama production line in December 2009. The joint venture company has also announced that the Oyama engine plant will move forward to produce the next generation of Tier 4 low-emissions engines for parent companies Komatsu Ltd. and Cummins Inc.

An American headquarters with a new parts and training facility has been opened by Sennebogen LLC in Stanley, N.C., and will serve the North American marketplace from this central location. Sennebogen, a family-owned business founded in 1952 in Straubing, Germany, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of specialized material handling machines used in scrap, recycling, ports, logging and forestry and many other industries. The U.S.-based subsidiary of the company was established in 2000 to introduce and support Sennebogen equipment throughout the Americas. Its 54,000 sq. ft. facility with six bays for shipping and receiving occupies a 32 acre site located in Lincoln County.

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