DEVELON

On Sept. 9, Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (DICE EMEA) opened a new Innovation Center in Dobris, Czech Republic. Among the attendees were Martin Knoetgen, president of DICE EMEA; Jose Cuadrado, EMEA Compact BU Vice President, and Jaroslav Melsa, mayor of Dobris, as well as other local officials.

The center is designed to create a culture of innovation and promote transformative product design across the company. After making the decision to build the Innovation Center in December 2011, DICE broke ground in June 2013. The center, which is equipped with an 8,000-square-meter prototype testing area and 1,300 square meters of office space, will support the state-of-the-art technology development and testing activities throughout the European region.

The Innovation Center will offer a wide range of activities, including product engineering (product testing, precision analysis, reliability, growth, development of prototypes and new compact equipment), supplier development, and product management, as well as the sourcing and training of employees. The center will also be equipped with a lab that can guarantee the performance, reliability and durability of the products produced in the Dobris factory. Moreover, an in-house noise laboratory, climate control system, and both static and dynamic testing facilities are expected to be adopted soon. The latest manufacturing technologies will be incorporated into the system to enable the prompt application of new prototyping methods and the development of the newest manufacturing processes.

DICE invested $17.6 million to establish the Innovation Center, which will support business activities in the EMEA region and play a vital role in Doosan’s global engineering and innovation facilities.

The Bobcat factory in Dobris was established in 2007. Its main products are compact excavators that weigh less than 3 tons (which account for 70 percent of the EMEA market) and loaders (which make up 60 percent of the EMEA market). DICE EMEA plans to produce 80 percent of the Bobcat equipment sold in the EMEA region at the Dobris Bobcat factory by the end of 2016. Currently, the 20,000-square-meter factory accommodates about 440 employees, over half of whom are production workers. In addition, there are 145 people working at the design center nearby. The Dobris factory has been operating the Bobcat Engineering Team since 2003, and the establishment of the Innovation Center is expected to bring mutual benefits to engineering and production, and will facilitate innovation.