JCB mark millionth machine in style
Company to host biggest-ever product conference following 1,000,000th machine milestone
HUNDREDS of JCB employees yesterday joined in the celebrations to mark the production of the company’s one millionth machine – enough diggers if lined up end-to-end to stretch from the UK to Australia.
The landmark is being marked in vivid style with the whole of the glass frontage of the World HQ at Rocester, Staffordshire, being encased in a graphic wrap marking the achievement.
The picture covers an area of more than 900 square metres and a total of 207 windows have each been individually covered with a section of the print – evolving like a giant jigsaw puzzle over a total of 50h as five people pieced it together.
Nestled behind the glass in the reception area is the actual one millionth machine, a 22-tonne JS220 tracked excavator in shimmering silver livery.
JCB chairman Sir Anthony Bamford said: ‘It’s taken JCB more than 67 years to produce its millionth machine. Incredibly, one-third of those machines have been produced in the last six years. Reaching the million milestone is the result of a huge effort by the JCB team past and present, and it’s an achievement everyone can be justifiably proud of.’
He added: ‘Given our continuing growth, JCB’s two millionth machine will be produced in considerably less time.’
Meanwhile, more than 2,500 JCB dealers and customers will be joining in the celebrations over the next five weeks as the company embarks on the next phase of its global growth programme by staging the biggest-ever product conference in its 67-year history.
Throughout the event in Staffordshire, JCB will showcase more than 100 of the latest machines in the company’s construction, agricultural and industrial ranges, and present technical details on their features and benefits.
JCB’s chief executive officer, Alan Blake, said: ‘The global dealer and customer conference is the biggest in JCB’s history, and unveiling our latest product innovations to delegates will be a key driver for our future growth.’
Given the scale of the event, JCB’s investment in this conference is also providing a very positive spin-off for the local and regional economy. Over the next five weeks the company has booked a total of 4,700 hotel room nights for delegates from almost 130 countries.
