Terex AWP to produce S-125 boom lift in China

Terex AWP, Redmond, Wash., is reconfiguring and improving part of its Moses Lake, Wash., factory to accommodate new Genie products it will introduce early next year. Terex declined to discuss the type and size of the new products, but the company did confirm that it has made space in the factory and is currently setting up the production process for new products.

To make room, Terex AWP has moved production of the Genie S-125 telescopic boom lifts that were being made in Moses Lake to its plant in Changzhou, China, which has been manufacturing Super Booms since 2010. No jobs were lost in the transfer. Production workers who had been building the S-125 lifts are now gearing up to make the upcoming new products.

Terex AWP spokesperson Melinda Zimmerman-Smith said that moving the manufacturing of products between plants is not unusual. “Genie products are designed and engineered in the United States and can be manufactured anywhere in our global footprint,” she said. “As a lean manufacturer, we have the ability to move the manufacturing of products as needed.”

Zimmerman-Smith added that Terex AWP’s quality system assures that products made in all of its factories meet the same quality standards. “The products we produce in China have the same quality and components as those manufactured in the United States,” she said. “We have transplanted an engineering director and a manufacturing director from Redmond to Changzhou to continue our commitment to manufacturing excellence.”

Though Genie did not discuss the topic, it is reasonable to assume that the company chose to consolidate production of the existing S-125 boom lifts in China and to produce its new products at the Moses Lake factory because it is more efficient to work out design changes and smooth out any manufacturing issues if the designers and production facilities are in the same place.

Although Genie does not foresee returning production of the S-125 boom lifts to its factory in Washington, the company is set up to do so if it decides to in the future.

Now, the focus in Redmond is to develop and produce the new products we will learn about early next year.