Doug Friesen, vice president, Terex Cranes North America, opened Terex Waverly’s open house events in August, by saying that for more than a year he had been resisting the temptation to mount the event. The delay, he said, was not due to the late arrival of new products, but rested on the decision as to when to unveil the real star of this show—the completely transformed Waverly plant.
In frank presentations, Friesen and Terex Cranes president Steve Filipov were at pains to emphasise that Terex Cranes’ operational and cultural transformation was only about 50% complete. Implementation of the plan commenced 24-months earlier with the arrival of Friesen and the assembly of a deep operational management team steeped in the disciplines of Toyota quality systems and lean manufacturing principles. Friesen illustrated how the core cultural change was for every employee to recognise that ultimately, they were not working for the employer or the union, but for his audience: the customer.
Steve Filipov opened his remarks with a quip about the lack of crane availability before presenting a detailed overview of the drivers of global crane demand that included discussion of the various traditional and renewable energy sources that drive so much crane demand and the roles of China, India, Russia and the Middle East as well as North America and Europe. Filipov illustrated the rise of Terex Corporation to becoming the third-ranked construction machinery manufacturer worldwide (after Caterpillar and Komatsu) and described the unprecedented growth of Terex Cranes revenues from $90m in 1992 to $1.7bn today, en-route paying tribute to the contributions of his father, ex-CEO Fil Filipov.
Those days, Filipov explained, had been ones of survival and growth through acquisition, culminating in the landmark 2002 purchase of Demag. Since then, with the exception of Terex’s Chinese joint venture, the growth had been wholly organic and the focus shifted towards transforming Terex into a world-class operational company.
Filipov concluded by displaying the breadth of Terex Cranes’ product line, which, he claimed, covered more market sectors than any competitor worldwide. Although these presentations were long—almost ninety minutes—the audience was held engrossed, prior to sixteen Terex team leaders escorting groups of delegates for their tours of the ‘new’ facility (covered in detail on p7).
The rejuvenated Waverly operation resulting from Terex’s significant capital investment is a fitting testament to the heritage of the company. The business was founded back in 1945 on these same 90 acres by Vernon L. and Wilbur Schield, and within ten years became the world’s largest manufacturer of small cranes and excavators, under the famous ‘Schield Bantam’ name. The crowning accolade for the upgrade could be seen in the smile on the face of the 98-year-old Wilbur Schield as he was driven around the plant, accompanied by his son Marshall and daughter-in-law Sandy.
The plant tours were followed with a ‘Parade of Cranes’, highlighting several new models. These included the new 18-ton (16.3t) capacity Terex Stinger BT 3671 single-axle Boom Truck with 71ft (21.6m) boom; the 25-ton (22.7t) capacity CD 225 cab-down RT that recently won a US Navy contract for 75-units; the Terex Comedil CBR 36H-4 4t capacity hydraulic self-erecting tower crane offering 2,205 lbs (1t) capacity at 118ft (36m) radius; the new Terex American HC 230 230-ton (208t) capacity hydraulic crawler lift crane and, the star of the show, the new 120-ton (110t) capacity RT 1120 rough terrain featuring a 155ft (47.3m) five section full power boom, which was escorted before the packed stands by a Waverly police car to close the show. However, the product line-up had to accept second billing to the Waverly factory and its team.
Terex cranes on parade at the Waverly open day Terex RTs at Waverly open day Steve Filipov (left) and Doug Friesen (right), at Terex’s Waverly open day Filipov left and Friesen right Terex’s new 120 US ton (110t) RT 1120, the first crane to combine Terex and Demag technology Terex RT 1120 Terex American’s new 230 US ton (208t) HC 230 lattice boom crawler (right) and a Terex Comedil 4t self-erector (left) Terex American HC 230
