Growth Planned to Enhance Capacity and Customer Satisfaction

In response to continued high demand from our customers and in preparation for continued growth in 2011, Kennebec has implemented a plan to add machinists on all shifts. We have been experiencing occasional bottlenecks in our production and the new hires should reduce or eliminate these issues.

Also, as part of our evolution toward make-complete cells and equipment, we’re preparing plans for a major plant expansion in the spring of 2011. Additional space will allow us to increase efficiency and optimize production flow as we continue to grow.

Increased Productivity and Demand Drive Purchase of New Horizontal Mill

In November Kennebec is adding a new Kiwa KH-41 Spacesaver PC2 horizontal mill. Kennebec President, Charles (Wick) Johnson, says the investment will support the company’s drive to meet customer requests for faster delivery and increased efficiency for milling of both solids and castings.

Reduced Cycle Time with a New Cubic Lathe

As part of our LEAN initiatives, we are adding a second Cubic GT Mini Plus lathe to our secondary production equipment. The new lathe will help us support our customers’ cost objectives by reducing cycle times on primary milling and multitasking machines. Kennebec Vice President of Operations, Harvey Smith, says, “We’re committed to working with our customers to help them achieve their cost, scheduling, and quality goals; if we need to buy a new machine to do that, that’s what we do.”