JCB lands $142m deal to supply US army

The privately owned JCB global company manufactures over 300 different machines in 22 plants on four continents in countries including the UK, India, Brazil, China and the United States. The equipment that it produces in these plants include backhoe loaders, Loadall telescopic handlers, tracked and wheeled excavators, wheeled loaders, rough terrain forklifts, compact excavators, skid steer loaders, compact track loaders, compaction equipment and the unique Fastrac tractor.

It was its innovative attitude and outside-the-box engineering that allowed JCB to win one of the biggest single orders in its 71-year history, a $142m (€134m) deal to supply the United States army with a massive fleet of machines.

Forklifts

The company has just announced that the US army is to take delivery of more than 1,600 light-capability rough terrain forklifts for deployment on tasks around the world including loading and unloading aircraft and shipping containers.The new 527-58M forklift is engineered from JCB’s range of commercial Loadall telescopic handlers, which celebrate 40 years in production this year.

Commenting on this iconic order,JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “This order is fantastic news for JCB and a great way to start the new year. It is the second-highest-value order in the company’s history, and I congratulate everyone who has worked to secure this valuable contract in the same year that we mark 40 years of telescopic handler production.”

Interestingly, the largest single deal in JCB’s history also came from the US army in 2005 when a $206m order was placed to produce hundreds of high-speed military versions of JCB’s famous backhoe loader.

That machine, the High Mobility Engineer Excavator (HMEE), is capable of speeds of up to 60mph and went on to be sold to allied forces around the world, including the UK, Sweden, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

Headquarters

Like the HMEE, the new 527-58M light-capability rough-terrain forklifts will be produced at JCB’s North American headquarters in Savannah, Georgia. They will be powered by the 84hp JCB DieselMax engine which is produced at JCB Power Systems in Derbyshire, UK.

At 80in (2m) wide and 78in (1.98m) high, the military spec 527-58M is optimised to work in confined spaces. With a travel speed of 33km/h, it is both fast and nimble and sports a maximum lift capacity of more than 2.26t to a maximum lift height of 19ft (5.8m).

Arjun Mirdha, CEO and president of JCB North America, said: “We are proud that the US army has once again chosen JCB and its Savannah-based manufacturing facility to produce these pieces of specialised equipment.

Over the past three decades, JCB has supplied more than 4,000 machines to armed forces in 57 countries, which has allowed us to acquire a deep understanding of how the army uses equipment and the unique features they require.”

Chris Giorgianni, JCB North America’s vice president, said: “JCB now offers more than 300 commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions for the military. Being chosen to produce this military-specific forklift builds on the broad range of JCB products that can be modified to meet the most gruelling military conditions.

“The 527-58M is designed to minimise military operational costs by offering a two-year service warranty and extended service intervals with parts backup available from distribution centres in JCB’s worldwide network, making it faster and more efficient for the US army to maintain and service the new forklifts.”

Design

With nearly one of every three telescopic handlers sold globally being produced by JCB, the US army will benefit from a leading commercial design and associated cost and operational efficiencies. Just as the JCB-built and supplied HMEE revolutionised how the military tackled engineering tasks, the new JCB light-capability rough terrain forklift is designed to improve military logistics capabilities.