Peterbilt’s expansion of its Denton, Texas manufacturing facility has been completed and all new areas are fully operational, the company has announced.
The final expansion phase concluded in January with the opening of a 102,000-square-foot Test Building, as well as a 400-unit capacity Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) for painted parts.
“The expansion investment is the largest made by Peterbilt since the plant construction,” said Leon Handt, Assistant General Manager of Operations at Peterbilt. “We’re committed to manufacturing the industry’s highest quality vehicles. Growing the Denton plant’s footprint allows us to increase our manufacturing efficiency and positions us for future growth.”
All testing and validation have been relocated to the new test building, which allows a more efficient process flow. The building features a new dynamometer capable of handling all truck configurations, as well as two new touch-up booths that have doubled Denton’s touch-up capacity. Total test capacity has been increased by 75 percent.
The ASRS is located in the building’s second level above the cab and sleeper trim sections. The system has enough capacity to hold 400 painted hoods, sleepers and cabs, which is the equivalent of one and a half days’ worth of painted components. The computer-controlled ASRS is seamlessly integrated into the production process and sequentially delivers the painted parts directly to the production line.
The opening of the test building and start of operations of the ASRS mark the conclusion of the three-phase expansion project started in 2015 to increase efficiency and quality throughout the Peterbilt Denton plant. In 2015, new shipping and receiving docks were added to the East and West sides of the plant in the first phase of the project.
With the conclusion of all three phases, the production square footage of the plant has increased from 440,000 to 600,000 square feet. The resulting efficiencies will yield nearly $12 million in annual savings.
