Published in the January 2010 Australia’s Mining Monthly

Komatsu has started building a $50 million facility at Wacol, southwest of Brisbane that will assemble up to 70 ultra-class dump trucks a year.

The centre will act as a one-stop shop for Komatsu’s Queensland customers – with sales, service and assembling of mining and utility equipment taking place onsite.

It also will house Komatsu’s national Mining Division head office.

Stage one involves building more than 14,000 square metres of workshop and assembly facilities on the 56,000sq.m site. The Wacol works are due to be finished in late 2011. If everything goes to plan, Wacol will start operating on January 1, 2012.

When fully operational the site will employ 200 people.

Along with the Wacol works, Komatsu is finalising plans for the expansion of its Mackay assembly facility.

Stage one of this expansion began with the spare parts warehouse being relocated to a state-of-the-art facility in Mackay. Construction of the expanded Mackay facility is due to be finished late in 2011.

This will allow Komatsu to expand production of its largest dump truck, the 360-tonne payload 960E.

Komatsu Australia president Bill Pike said the Wacol facility was the company’s single-biggest investment in its 45 years of Australian operations.

“The new Wacol facility will allow us to more than meet the requirements of our customers in southeast Queensland and right across Australia long into the future,” he said.

It turns out several states had been competing to attract the Komatsu facility.

The Japanese heavy industrial player was able to attract funds from the Queensland Investment Incentives Scheme, a state government program.

Komatsu also received help from Brisbane City Council to select its site and with the development approvals process. This influenced and ultimately led to Wacol being the site chosen to host the facility.

The Wacol development has been planned around the principle of ecological sustainability.

“The Wacol site is specifically designed to incorporate a variety of high-tech environmental control measures as part of the company’s global commitment to reducing its ecological footprint,” Pike said.

“Early next year Komatsu will be launching the world’s first diesel electric hybrid excavator on the Australian market, complementing the world-first Komatsu hybrid forklift already in service.”

At Wacol, rainwater harvesting, energy-efficient lighting, insulation and a bio-retention basin will minimise the site’s environmental impact.

Rainwater harvested from the roof will be stored – underground storage of 291,000 litres has been provided for – and will be used for irrigation, workshop production and amenities.

The washpad will use 100% of reclaimed water from roof tops. That water will be reused utilising a Clearmake water separator system.

Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser was understandably pleased with the state’s ability to attract the Komatsu facility.

“There was strong competition from other states to attract Komatsu, so this news simply reinforces that Queensland is open for business,” Fraser said.

“Komatsu will make a significant contribution to the community, making 41 apprenticeship positions available to jobseekers and further bolstering the high growth in the mining equipment and technology sector.

“Wacol has a strong manufacturing and industrial history, acting as an employment hub so it was a natural fit for Komatsu to set up shop there.”