Ever have to wait for a semi loaded with Bobcats to pass - just enjoy it

Posted by Robert Chambers

on Feb 05, 2013

Doug Krick the Strategic Business Unit Manager, Hydraulics, for Bobcat (translation: he runs the Wahpeton Bobcat plant) told members at their regular meeting at Prante's at noon on Tuesday, February 2, 2013 what the function of the Wahpeton Bobcat plant is. Simply: they manufacture the hydraulic components for various Bobcat pieces of equipment. In the late 1970's they could not find vendors with the quantity and quality of hydraulic component units they needed so they began manufacturing their own. Eighty percent of their product goes to the main assembly plant in Gwinner the remainder going to the Bobcat plant in the Czech Republic or the different original equipment manufactures they contract with in thirteen different countries. The big advantage that Wahpeton has for Bobcat is the North Dakota State College of Science and their grinding machinery and other manufacturing programs. Krick commented that not only does NDSCS produce an educated workforce for them they are easy to work with to assure that the students have the necessary skills as technology changes.

The plant operates three shifts and has 69 full time and 21 temporary employees with a ratio of three robots for every employee. Looking only at the 69 full time and applying the 7:1 ratio it means that in addition to the 69 Bobcat primary manufacturing employees in Wahpeton creates 483 secondary jobs. If you are opposed to globalization you do not want to live in Wahpeton as Bobcat supplies equipment all over the world and several people recalled having seen Bobcats while in Europe. In Wahpeton 137 different cylinders are manufactures with a capacity of 1,250 per day. They also build 275 loader valves per day and 300 track tension cylinders of which they have 13 models.

Krick also spoke of their quality control with a very low 0.2 % failure rate. At one point they tested 100 % of their product but with this low failure rate they are now able to go to selective testing on most cylinders. However both the loader valves and the swivel joints are still 100 % tested. He also spoke of their "paint" process with is basically a powder coating process with heat using nanoscience principles.

Members questioned him about several facets including his personal story. He is married and has two children. He described how he started at Bobcat as a cylinder assembler after working elsewhere for 13 years as a meat cutter. He worked up to being a shop foreman and then took advantage of Ingersoll Rand's (Bobcat parent company until it sold Bobcat to the Doosan Group of South Korea in May 2007) tuition reimbursement to achieve a four year business degree at the University of Mary.