By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
Almost everyone in the Castle Country is familiar with Komatsu’s blue and white block letters. Whether it be one of their many company vehicles cruising down the road or a sponsor sign plastered at a community event, Komatsu is deeply ingrained within the area.
However, what eludes some residents is what Komatsu does internally and what they look to do within the community.
To answer these questions, Komatsu allowed Castle Country Radio to tour their Wellington facility and see what it’s like inside Komatsu.
What is Komatsu
Regional Manager Rod Mills described the manufacturing giant’s activities simply: “Komatsu is a global manufacturer of construction equipment. And that’s where they’ve been growing like a weed, really, for many years.”
Before it was Komatsu to the Castle Country, it was Joy Global. In 2017, Joy was acquired by Komatsu, bringing the producers under a single banner. This merger allowed the company to build a complete footprint in mining and construction equipment.
Working closely with mining operations, Komatsu produces equipment for soft rock and hard rock mining and aboveground construction. In Wellington, the company hosts a full-rebuild facility while also emphasizing newly manufactured equipment.
Being among the largest producers in the world isn’t enough for Komatsu; they want to stay on the cutting edge of mining technology. “If you don’t stay on the cutting edge, you won’t be around very long,” said Human Resource Manager Tanner Hackney. “From an automation standpoint and a safety standpoint, it’s enormous. But if you don’t have cutting-edge technology, somebody else is going to.”
Hackney illustrated this by describing a recent trade show at which Komatsu displayed technology that allows miners to remotely control a longwall shearer from the surface.
Komatsu in the community
“Recently, we worked closely with Utah State University Eastern to enhance their trade programs like electrical Machining and welding,” explained Mills. “Our roots are here. And you know, we employ a lot of the relatives of people who used to work in the mines. We try to keep it homegrown.”
Diving further into this partnership with USUE, Operations Manager Quenten Kirkwood shared,” We offer high school-level and college-level programs with different sponsorships and scholarship opportunities for the kids they’re trying to attract into this area.” He continued,” We’re just trying to get our name out there and let them know that we’ve been in the community for this long, and we don’t plan on going anywhere.”
Taking a broader look at Komatsu’s impact on the community, Hackney stated,” For years, we’ve tried to not only support but be the major supporter of all of these local events. We want to let the community know how supportive we are of our employees and the community and to try to give back. It’s a really big deal for us.”
A culture of safety
As with any industrial job, safety is always a concern. At Komatsu, this concern is taken extremely seriously. A crisscrossing pattern of walkway guidelines overlays the floor, showing employees and guests alike where it is and isn’t safe to wander.
“We’ve got policies and procedures around almost everything we do,” said Kirkwood. “We have an impeccable safety record. We are approaching 14 years without a lost time injury. When you look at the size of equipment we deal with every day, three shifts a day, sometimes seven days a week. There are a lot of opportunities for bad things to happen. And again, part of longevity that you talk about when you have experience is that you try to use that experience to train the new guys to make sure that everybody’s watching out for somebody else.”
This is no joke. As soon as you walk through the front door, you are bombarded with a carefully organized array of safety signage, reminding you to stay in assigned walking areas, wear personal protective equipment and be aware of your surroundings.
To further remind employees of the importance of safety, they are presented with safety coins, which serve as a pocket-size reminder that the safety of you and others around you can fall in your hands.
Inside Komatsu
When you first walk in the doors to the workshop, you are presented with machines vending personal protective equipment like gloves and safety glasses alongside an earplug dispenser for some of the louder sections of the building. A drove of workers navigate the shop floor, engaging in casual conversation while keeping an eye out for one another. The sense of camaraderie is apparent.
As you explore the workshop, you see shells of various equipment. Bodies of longwall and continuous miners under construction are organized neatly across the building.
Advanced technology is hidden from regular sight within the many break-off rooms. Laser scales that measure parts down to the micrometer and welding platforms give employees plenty of space to engage with work – and spectators plenty to look at.
You wander into a warehouse, whose organization is truly breathtaking. Rows and rows of boxes neatly stacked and tucked away make it simple for workers to identify and order the parts they need.
How to get involved
Komatsu offers a wide variety of positions, ranging from welders and electricians to warehouse workers and salespersons.
“I’ve never had a complaint over the years about benefits, insurance, wages and stuff like that. They’ve always been very competitive. And the work-life balance in general has just been fantastic,” said Kirkwood.
More information about openings at Komatsu is available online at komatsu.jobs.
