Industry Roundup: Liebherr Opens Midwest Parts Distribution Center

Liebherr has established its fourth parts warehouse in the U.S., capable of carrying 2,300 various spare parts with over 5,000 expected once the building is fully converted.

The OEM invested in its Kansas City, Missouri, facility to build this new 12,000-square-foot distribution center, which will focus on supplying spare parts for mobile and crawler cranes across the Midwest. Work on constructing the warehouse began earlier this year.

One need driving the company to build the warehouse, according to a press release, is the wind industry in the Midwest, where many Liebherr cranes are used to construct wind turbines.

“When people choose to expand their fleet with Liebherr, they deserve a strong partner that can provide them with reliable and efficient service when they’re in need,” explains Anthony South, spare parts business manager, mobile and crawler cranes, Liebherr USA.

The Kansas City facility provides the surrounding area with field services and technical assistance and offers a wide range of mobile cranes with lattice and telescoping booms on crawler-tracked or wheeled undercarriages.

Liebherr just recently unveiled its new LTM 1400-6.1 telescopic mobile crane.

Spectra Precision to Acquire Unicontrol

Laser positioning systems provider Spectra Precision recently signed a definitive agreement to acquire Unicontrol, which manufactures earth-moving 3D machine control systems.

Unicontrol offers system controls for excavators, wheel loaders, dozers, skid steers and other compact machines, as well as GNSS Rover GPS surveying equipment and its 3D machine control assistant UnicontrolCloud.

Unicontrol offers system controls for excavators, wheel loaders, dozers, skid steers and other compact machines.Spectra Precision

Steve Mokler, VP of Sales & Marketing at Spectra Precision, said, “The complementary strengths of our companies create an exciting foundation for innovative new products to support the growth of collective dealers and enhance the productivity of our end users.”

Trimble sold its Spectra Precision business, along with 4 other businesses, to Precisional LLC, a global precision measurement and data solutions platform for infrastructure end markets, in early 2022.

Johnson Tractor Acquires 2 St. Joseph Equipment Stores

Midwest Case IH and Kubota dealer Johnson Tractor recently announced its acquisition of fellow Case IH dealer St. Joseph Equipment's locations in La Crosse and Richland Center, Wisconsin. This brings Johnson Tractor to 11 locations in Wisconsin and Illinois.

St. Joseph Equipment has 2 remaining locations in Norwalk, Wisconsin, and Eyota, Minnesota.

JLG Completes AUSA Acquisition

Telehandler and mobile elevating work platform manufacturer JLG has completed its acquisition of compact all-terrain machine manufacturer AUSACORP S.L. This includes the company’s 250,000-square-foot Barcelona manufacturing facility.

AUSA, which currently has 350 employees and 200 worldwide dealers, specializes in wheeled dumpers, rough terrain forklifts and compact telehandlers for the residential, civil and road construction industries, in addition to material handling and transportation applications.

Western Global Moves to New Winnipeg Facility

Portable fluid tank and fluid dispensing equipment provider Western Global has moved its Winnipeg, Manitoba, production to a new facility with increased production capacity.

The 26,850-square-foot facility is now the largest Western Global location in North America, being 25% bigger than the previous plant and boasting 32,000 square feet of yard space.

The new location is designed to capitalize on the company’s growth opportunity in the large tank market.Western Global

The new location is designed to capitalize on the company’s growth opportunity in large tanks, which range from 2,000 to 19,000 gallons and are utilized for large-scale projects such as mining. Western Global has also added a training center for employees and customers.

“We are always looking for ways to improve and optimize our production capabilities for our North American customers,” said Clem Connor, Western Global CEO. “With the growing demand for tanks across Canada and the U.S., we have invested in a larger footprint and new technology to increase production capacity and efficiency.”