Bobcat Company celebrated Oct. 12 the completion of its Statesville manufacturing facility expansion with a ceremonial ribbon cutting attended by company leaders, employees and community members. The $70 million investment makes the location the company’s largest manufacturing facility in North America and will add hundreds more jobs in Iredell County over the next 5 years.
The 600,000-square-foot expansion increased the footprint to more than 1 million square feet on a more than 150-acre campus, located in Charlotte, N.C. This investment enables the Statesville operation to also serve as a key manufacturing hub to help meet a growing demand for Bobcat products by increasing production capabilities and efficiency.
The expansion adds space for manufacturing and warehousing; research and development; an automated paint line; parts control and storage; shipping and receiving docks; open air space for product testing and quality control; additional parking; shipping and delivery entrance; and finished goods inventory storage.
Production of the Bobcat mini track loader (MTL) will shift from the Bismarck, N.D., facility to Statesville by late 2022. The new MTL production lines are designed to produce 35 units per shift, which will mean a new Bobcat MT100 will finish production every 10.8 minutes.
Additionally, the Bobcat compact tractor line has been assembled in Statesville since its launch in 2019, and will continue to be assembled in this facility, thus growing the company’s grounds maintenance equipment production at this site. The Statesville location also produces generators, light towers and air compressors.
