September 29, 2004—Earlier this month, UpRight International began making the shift from its Madera, Calif., plant to a new facility in the Baja California region of Mexico. The 280,000 square foot assembly plant in Mexicali will produce a full range of aerial work platforms, including small, compact, and large scissor lifts; electric boom lifts; 2-wheel drive and 4-wheel drive diesel and dual-fuel articulated and straight boom lifts; and vertical mast and personnel lifts. Shipments of electric scissor lifts from the Mexicali facility began in September, soon to be followed by boom lift and vertical mast production.
Assembly materials will be fed to the plant from UpRight International's existing supply chain. Other materials will come from Mexico and South America. Engineering resources will continue to be provided from offices in North and South America, Europe, and China. In July, the company announced that Ui Distribution North America, Inc., will distribute UpRight products and provide service and parts from a facility in Fresno, Calif.
The management team, led by Frank Thornton, vice president of global manufacturing operations, includes local professionals from the Baja California industrial sector and aerial work platform industry veterans. Management will adhere to the Six Sigma Philosophy and the plant conforms to ISO quality standards. Marketing efforts in the Americas will be led by Karla Olguin who is scheduled to come on board by mid-October.
According to a press release from John Coughlan, President of UpRight International, Mexicali was selected for the site of the new plant for its progressive industrial business sector. “The Baja California region has a growing number of blue chip organizations manufacturing products requiring a similar skill base. The people in the area are highly trained engineering operatives with a range of assembly, welding, electric, and electronic skills. The region boasts a dynamic strategy to attract new business enterprise with its emphasis on a high-level of education investment creating a foundation for industrial growth, such as this,” he said.
