In an effort to meet growing global demand, Crown Equipment Corporation, one of the world’s largest material handling companies, recently completed an expansion project that doubled the size of the company’s electronics assembly plant.

Employees at the New Bremen, Ohio, facility manufacture and assemble the circuit boards and control modules used globally in the majority of Crown forklifts. The 30,000-square-foot addition includes a mixture of office space and assembly equipment, including an existing surface mount assembly line. The electronics assembled in the facility include the control module that provides the interface for Crown’s InfoLink^® wireless fleet and operator management system, which is integrated into the forklift and enables fleet managers to wirelessly stay connected to their fleet and operators.

“The work we do in this electronics assembly plant is among the best examples of Crown’s vertically integrated manufacturing strategy,” said Dave Besser, senior vice president of manufacturing, Crown Equipment. “This approach allows us to develop and continually improve standardized manufacturing processes globally while maintaining our focus on quality and advanced technology. As our vision for a connected forklift becomes a reality, this expansion allows us to integrate more advanced on-board technology to help our customers make more informed decisions that improve warehouse productivity and manufacturing operations, as well as reduce costs without compromising operator safety.”

Crown designs and manufactures the majority of the components used in its award-winning forklifts, including electric motors, drive units, masts, power units, electronic modules, wire harnesses, forks, seats and more. The company is vertically integrated across 17 manufacturing facilities in 11 locations worldwide.

Earlier this year, the electronics assembly plant earned a gold-level award in the Ohio EPA’s Encouraging Environmental Excellence (E3) program that acknowledges Ohio businesses for environmentally beneficial activities. The award recognized the plant’s environmental management system and sustainability efforts that helped the facility achieve ISO 14001 compliance and zero landfill status.