MINERAL WELLS, W.Va. — Only two weeks of production will be lost when Hino Motors finishes its move in assembly plants from Williamstown to Mineral Wells.
Steve Stalnaker, a senior vice president for Hino and plant manager of the manufacturing facility told MetroNews on Thursday that the new production of commercial trucks in Williamstown concluded on Friday, April 12 and the new assembly in Mineral Wells should begin Monday, April 29.
“We’ve been moving equipment from that location and some parts,” Stalnaker said. “As well as various tools we will need to produce a product here at our new location here in Mineral Wells.”
Stalnaker said the assembly line itself in the Williamstown manufacturing facility will not be moved as Hino had a new line installed in the Mineral Wells facility when Hino began operations there late last year.
The facility in Mineral Wells, that is 962,000 square foot, is roughly four times larger than the building in Williamstown and Stalnaker said that means an increased production capacity.
Stalnaker said the new facility will produce an XL series of trucks that will move the plant to the Class 8 commercial market, which is the largest class in the commercial market.
He added tandem axels will also be able to be produced at the new facility.
The Williamstown plant produced Class 6 and 7 commercial market trucks and only single rear axles.
“This gives us an opportunity to produce heavier duty trucks for a different market,” Stalnaker said. “The trucks will be built on the same assembly line although the chassis lines will be different for the two different models. We have incorporated that into this new facility.”
The Williamstown facility, which sits roughly 20 miles from the Mineral Wells building, will be taken over by Wetz Warehousing, according to Stalnaker. The warehousing company is moving its operations from Marietta, Ohio.
Next to the manufacturing facility in Williamstown is a truck yard, which will be used as the place to ship trucks to dealers or body finishers without having to move them to the new manufacturing facility.
The move, which was supported by the existing 460 team members according to Stalnaker, will not mean adding employees in the short term.
He said with planned increased capacity in the long term, that would be the company’s objective to add staff and maybe even another shift.
A one shift operation was being used in Williamstown but the facility maxed out production for one shift. The move to Mineral Wells will allow for increased capacity while running one shift.
Production at the Williamstown facility began in July 2007. The final truck rolled off the line on Thursday.
The end of an era & beginning of something better! In 2007 Hino began producing conventional models at our Williamstown, WV plant. The OG team & entire plant gathered to celebrate the final truck rolling off the line and ring in the new plant in Mineral Wells, WV #hinonation pic.twitter.com/PJTWcoJrGH
— HINO TRUCKS (@HINOTRUCKSUSA) April 18, 2019