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Kawasaki
Manufacturing Plant - Lincoln,
Nebraska - Links
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Lincoln, Nebraska - The kind
folks at Kawasaki Motor Corporation USA were
gracious enough to invite us out to their Lincoln,
Nebraska Manufacturing Facility to unveil their
3,000,000th unit as it rolled off the line.
Thankfully, we were all there to see this piece
of history as it made it's last few inches across
threshold.
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| The
Kawasaki Teryx 750 Fi 4x4 rolled off the
line with help from Production Manager
Brad Nelson as the crowd went wild behind
us! |
The Three-Millionth unit just happened to be
one of Kawasaki’s most popular machines
in their lineup – the Kawasaki Teryx 750
FI 4x4 Sport Performance UTV. This Special Edition
unit was outfitted with bright, Kawasaki Lime
Green plastics, their cast aluminum wheels,
and of course all of the other amenities found
on the Teryx line including dual bucket, driver
and passenger seats, sport inspired suspension,
and eye catching, functional interior.
The Teryx has always been a venerable machine
in Kawasaki’s line and with this release,
it is proven that they are still very popular
and in high demand.
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| Lincoln
Plant Vice President/Plant Manager Mike
Boyle leads the nearly 1200 employees
in an "oui, oui, oui" chant
as a video reel is played in the background |
To myself, it is the people who make, drive, and inspire a company or product
to succeed in its given market environment. At
Kawasaki, the people are at the forefront of their
business starting right from when the raw materials
enter the loading dock. Kawasaki has a strict
building process called Kawasaki Production System,
KPS for short. This allows parts to be moved quickly
and efficiently into the plant, become assembled
and used for the machine, finished and then sent
off as a complete, ready-to-ride unit. This in
turn, gives the employees of the plant a no-stress
work environment which allows them to complete
their tasks in a timely fashion with no interruptions.
Another facet of this work process is the fact
that not a lot of parts are waiting in queue
with a huge stock pile just sitting there. This
keeps the floor spaces open which allows for
more floor workers and machinery to enter the
plant which gets more work done on any given
day.
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| Our
initial tour guide, Amanda, had a bubbly
personality & this same attitude resonated
throughout the entire 332 acre plant as
everywhere we looked, people were smiling
as we walked past |
Kawasaki has also put into action workplace features
such as a recreational area with a weight room
and gym, executive style meeting rooms, and fun
work environments. All of this combined with regularly
scheduled company meetings, gatherings and rallies,
along with fair employee treatment, create a very
positive work environment. This was all clear
to us as we cruised the enormous factory and saw
the smiling faces of employees who obviously took
great pride in their work.
Quality control is of the utmost importance
at the Kawasaki Lincoln Plant, as well with
Kawasaki World Wide. “ Everything we do
here at Kawasaki is about quality and safety,
in an efficient manner. Our employees are very
versatile and can complete many different tasks
on the floor” stated Brad Nelson, the
Production Manager for the Lincoln Plant.
