The Shido plant is located in Sanuki City, in Kagawa prefecture on Shikoku island in the south of Japan. The upgrade to the plant is part of a three year, JPY11.5bn ($101m), investment programme, started in 2005. Tadano aims to increase its production capacity by 50% from 2004 to 2008. Under the plan, Shido will manufacture construction cranes, while an entirely new plant in Tadotsu handles loaders and an existing facility in Takamatsu builds aerial work platforms.
The new painting factory building is a single storey unit with a total floor space 5,631.17 sq m. The new building adds ten painting booths to the plant’s existing facilities, and increases its painting capacity by around 20%. The facility uses a batch painting system to allow for easier changes in product models, and has a 16.5m high ceiling to allow for larger sized cranes. The new facility started operations at the beginning of November 2007.
The improvements to the cylinder factory have been designed to match the increased capacity of the painting facility: again, the capacity has been increased by about 20%. The total floor space of the cylinder factory is now 1,336.46 sq m. New equipment in the cylinder factory includes electron beam welders and varnishing work machines. The cylinder production extension is due to start work in May 2008.
