RACINE, Wis. — Case IH recently broke ground on an expansion of the
company’s Goodfield, Ill., plant, which manufactures industry-leading tillage
and fertilizer application equipment. The 168,000-square-foot expansion project,
which will begin immediately, will increase the size of the plant by
approximately two-thirds.
“The new expansion will accommodate an all-new paint line and enable us to
extend our leadership position in the marketplace,” says Goodfield Plant Manager
Brian Blankenship. “The commitment to this plant continues, and our employees
have responded.”
Blankenship cites that employment at the plant has grown
over the last four years, making it the largest employer in Woodford County. The
facility in Goodfield currently supports roughly 650 positions and still has
openings in fabrication, welding, paint and assembly.
Blankenship says the new paint line will be a multistage auto deposition
primer dip system with a powder topcoat. The system will be based on a power-
and free-conveyer system and provide a needed capacity increase.
Senior Director for Case IH Specialty Business, Bill Preller, says these
plant improvements will provide both enhanced product quality and value to
customers.
“Simply put, it will provide a better-quality paint finish that’s superior to
the existing industry-standard Class III finish,” Preller says. “Case IH
customers will benefit from an even more rugged red paint finish that looks
better rolling off the factory line, lasts throughout the life of the implement
and improves resale value.”
In addition, the new paint line will almost completely eliminate VOCs
(volatile organic compounds), and the plant will recycle all water used in the
process.
This expansion will facilitate continued adoption of world-class
manufacturing processes to further improve plant efficiency and profitability –
and product quality for Case IH customers.
“The Case IH iron we manufacture in Goodfield already has a hard-earned reputation for being rugged, productive and agronomically superior,” Preller says.
“The Case IH iron we manufacture in Goodfield already has a hard-earned
reputation for being rugged, productive and agronomically superior,” Preller
says. “It’s heavy duty and built to last, works in the toughest conditions, and
does all the right things to help crops grow better. That’s how we became the
industry leader.”
The Case IH True-Tandem™ 330 Turbo and Ecolo-Tiger® 870 disk ripper, both
produced in Goodfield, have proved to be extremely popular with customers.
Case IH is a global leader in agricultural equipment, committed to
collaborating with its customers to develop the most powerful, productive,
reliable equipment – designed to meet today’s agricultural challenges.
Challenges like feeding an expanding global population on less land, meeting
ever-changing government regulations and managing input costs. With headquarters
in the United States, Case IH has a network of dealers and distributors that
operates in over 160 countries. Case IH provides agricultural equipment systems,
flexible financial service offerings and parts and service support for
professional farmers and commercial operators through a dedicated network of
professional dealers and distributors. Productivity enhancing products include
tractors; combines and harvesters; hay and forage equipment; tillage tools;
planting and seeding systems; sprayers and applicators; site-specific farming
tools and utility vehicles. Case IH is a brand of CNH (NYSE: CNH), a
majority-owned subsidiary of Fiat Industrial S.p.A. (FI.MI).
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