When the plant was built in 1975, the line was only built for assembling truck cranes. After FMC-Sumitomo bought Link-Belt in 1986, it closed down other plants in Iowa and Kentucky and moved production of RTs and excavators to Lexington. In 1998, the excavator manufacturing lines migrated to a new company licenced to use the Link-Belt name, LBX Company LLC, also based in Lexington, Kentucky.

Following the departure of excavators, the factory used one line for making sub-assemblies. In July it reorganised the factory and gave each crane its own dedicated line. At each stage of construction, key sub-assemblies, such as axles, diesel fuel and hydraulics tanks an cabins, are built up next to the main lines.

The second line doubles production output; In fact, it more than doubles output, the company says, because each line can proceed at a different pace. Many assembly tasks differ on the two types of crane, so workers speed up when they are only making one. Truck cranes have more components and a more complicated carrier than RTs.

The 540ft-long new line was developed in a series of periodic week-long brainstorming sessions between plant workers and other employees at the 750-employee strong plant.

The factory has an entire line for welding lattice-frame boom and jib sections, as well as its characteristic ddiamond-embossed telescopic booms. It does not make oval formed booms, which come from supplier Vlassenroot in Belgium. Crawler crane uppers and lowers come from the Japanese factories of sister company Hitachi-Sumitomo Heavy Industries Construction Crane.

The new line is the latest in a series of developments at the Lexington site. Sheet metal sub-supplier Qualex has been manufacturing deck, cabins and other fabrications in a separate factory on site. “We were always waiting on sheet metal before. Now there is no transport and no rust,” says lattice crane product manager Pat Collins.

The factory is currently running a single shift, 7 am to 3:30pm, with second shifts in small weldments, pre- and post-assembly painting shops, a precision metal-boring machine and the parts warehouse. “We can run three shifts,” says telescopic boom crane product manager Rick Curnutte, “but if there is an unplanned event there is no chance to catch up.”


Individually labelled chords await assembly into a lattice-boom in a customised cart Individually labelled chords await assembly into a lattice-boom in a customised cart Link-Belt factory line Link-Belt factory line