Cover
Where America
and Japan Meet
Vehicles Keep
Kentucky Moving
Out of the Bluegrass
and Into the Green
Western Kentucky
is Where It All
Comes Together
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KENTUCKY SPOTLIGHT
Going Back to New Kentucky
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ometimes it seems as if Kentucky's 120 counties are too numerous to manage. But regarded in a different light, the wide range of jurisdictions stretching across its 25.6 million acres (10.4 million hectares) provide that much more opportunity – occasions for the flowering of distinctive communities, and for the blossoming of business that contributes to their character.
When manager of real estate and facility management Roger Beck, now retired, was helping Dow Corning locate two of its largest factories in Kentucky in the 1970s, economic development wasn't really called that yet. "You just had somebody from the governor's office work with you," says Beck. "They were extremely helpful getting us located in Kentucky."
Those two facilities grew into two of the largest plants in Dow Corning's portfolio, and they aren't in the bigger metros. One is hard by the Ohio River in Carrollton, and the other is in Elizabethtown.
These days, multinational corporations are still finding that both state ED officials and small towns in Kentucky are extremely helpful to their strategic goals and bottom line.
"Kyosan is an affiliate company, so we have a long history of working together," says Voorhorst. "Their strength is in fuel management, and we have a division at DENSO dedicated to fuel management products, so it was a natural blending of our talents with theirs."
Keeping the talent that Kyosan had nurtured in Winchester since opening there in November 2001 was an important part of the location decision, says Voorhorst. Mt. Sterling – just a short hop through the Bluegrass from Winchester – was one of several Kentucky locations with buildings in the running.
"We considered three states and 14 locations in the preliminary search," says Voorhorst. "Our first search was in the summer of 2001, and we closed on the building in December 2002. Kentucky was a very strong contender from the beginning because of work force issues and the fact that the location was right. It was partly driven by finding the suitable industrial building. We were very fortunate to find it, frankly, within the same driving radius for that [labor] market."
Katsumi Urano, the president of the new firm, worked for DENSO for 30 years before being appointed last year as Kyosan Denki's general project manager for overseas operations.
Following the transferred production of Kyosan Denki's fuel systems, cutoff valves and vapor recovery valves, electronic fuel pump modules will be the first joint venture products to roll off the Mt. Sterling production line in March 2004, followed by a planned rollout of suction filters in 2005 and pressure regulators in 2006. The company currently makes original equipment for some 11 OEMs, including Toyota. The joint venture – 70-percent Kyosan-owned and 30-percent DENSO-owned – hopes to employ as many as 230 people by 2008, and will initially target production for Toyota and Subaru.
Voorhorst says the site offers significant room for such expansion, just as the state's deepening relationship with Asian companies offers considerable promise.
"The relationship between the Japanese investment community and Kentucky continues to be quite strong," he says, citing the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development's impressive contribution to their new project. He adds that Gov. Paul Patton and his development staff had been very faithful about maintaining relationships with DENSO over the years, even as their facility count in the state only amounted to a testing facility in the Northern Kentucky community of Erlanger, near the headquarters of Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America.
Denso employs some 14,000 at 22 plants across North America, serving accounts with almost all of the continent's OEMs. The company operates one plant in Ontario, Canada, and another in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Most of the company's U.S. plants are spread across the Southeast. Last year the firm was honored with 23 supplier awards from Toyota.
While the town of Winchester will see 20 jobs move just east, it is seeing its own new joint venture: Advanced Green Components, a partnership between Canton, Ohio-based Timken Co., Himeji, Japan-based Sanyo Special Steel Co. and Kishiwada, Osaka, Japan-based Showa Seiko Co. to make forged and machined components.
Timken has operated a plant in Winchester since 1997, employing some 50 people in the manufacture of forged and machined rings for bearings. Another 40,000 sq. ft. (3,716 sq. m.) will be added on by spring 2004. Capacity will be doubled at the plant, which will now be reformed under the joint venture, and employment is projected to reach 130 by the time full capacity is reached in 2005.
"The facility is well-suited to operate as an independent business based in large measure on the consistent outstanding work ethic of the associates," said Karl P. Kimmerling, president – automotive, in October 2002. "The added investment in capital and technology provided by the joint venture partners bodes well not only for our customers and shareholders, but also for the associates themselves and the entire community."
In its drive to be more customer-focused and less asset-intensive, the JV helps Timken by adding to capacity without investing in a new physical plant, and by keeping valuable employees.
"Early last year, the company launched the second phase of its transformation, emphasizing a strategic refocusing of our manufacturing operations," said Kimmerling. "This phase is focused on reducing fixed and var iable costs and increasing competitiveness. On bearing cups and cones, for certain high-volume applications, forgings achieve significant material savings and reduced machining because the components are closer to the shape and size of the final product. As a result, bearing manufacturing speed and efficiency increase."
"Our metal working technology experience and capital investment enables the enhancement of existing forging and machining processes, improving both equipment uptime and performance," said Kunihiko Bando, chairman of the board, representative director of Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd. "Sanyo, Showa Seiko Co. and Timken are industry leaders and this joint venture helps all three companies maintain their global competitiveness."
When manager of real estate and facility management Roger Beck, now retired, was helping Dow Corning locate two of its largest factories in Kentucky in the 1970s, economic development wasn't really called that yet. "You just had somebody from the governor's office work with you," says Beck. "They were extremely helpful getting us located in Kentucky."
Those two facilities grew into two of the largest plants in Dow Corning's portfolio, and they aren't in the bigger metros. One is hard by the Ohio River in Carrollton, and the other is in Elizabethtown.
These days, multinational corporations are still finding that both state ED officials and small towns in Kentucky are extremely helpful to their strategic goals and bottom line.
Where America and Japan Meet
Take the recently announced $14.7-million investment by Kyosan Denki America of Winchester, Ky., and DENSO International America, of Southfield, Mich., to move and expand from Kyosan's 9,900-sq.-ft. (920-sq.-m.) Winchester facility to a 46,961-sq.-ft. (4,363-sq.-m.) building on 14.4 acres (5.8 hectares) in nearby Mt. Sterling. The facility, vacated by the rubber door seal operations of Holland, Mich.-based Donnelley Corp. in the spring of 2002, was not empty for long. John Voorhorst, DENSO's vice president of external affairs and its major North American voice in site selection, says it was a natural spot for their first joint venture with Kyosan Denki, headquartered in Ibaraka prefecture, Japan.
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"Kyosan is an affiliate company, so we have a long history of working together," says Voorhorst. "Their strength is in fuel management, and we have a division at DENSO dedicated to fuel management products, so it was a natural blending of our talents with theirs."
Keeping the talent that Kyosan had nurtured in Winchester since opening there in November 2001 was an important part of the location decision, says Voorhorst. Mt. Sterling – just a short hop through the Bluegrass from Winchester – was one of several Kentucky locations with buildings in the running.
"We considered three states and 14 locations in the preliminary search," says Voorhorst. "Our first search was in the summer of 2001, and we closed on the building in December 2002. Kentucky was a very strong contender from the beginning because of work force issues and the fact that the location was right. It was partly driven by finding the suitable industrial building. We were very fortunate to find it, frankly, within the same driving radius for that [labor] market."
Katsumi Urano, the president of the new firm, worked for DENSO for 30 years before being appointed last year as Kyosan Denki's general project manager for overseas operations.
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Following the transferred production of Kyosan Denki's fuel systems, cutoff valves and vapor recovery valves, electronic fuel pump modules will be the first joint venture products to roll off the Mt. Sterling production line in March 2004, followed by a planned rollout of suction filters in 2005 and pressure regulators in 2006. The company currently makes original equipment for some 11 OEMs, including Toyota. The joint venture – 70-percent Kyosan-owned and 30-percent DENSO-owned – hopes to employ as many as 230 people by 2008, and will initially target production for Toyota and Subaru.
Voorhorst says the site offers significant room for such expansion, just as the state's deepening relationship with Asian companies offers considerable promise.
"The relationship between the Japanese investment community and Kentucky continues to be quite strong," he says, citing the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development's impressive contribution to their new project. He adds that Gov. Paul Patton and his development staff had been very faithful about maintaining relationships with DENSO over the years, even as their facility count in the state only amounted to a testing facility in the Northern Kentucky community of Erlanger, near the headquarters of Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America.
Denso employs some 14,000 at 22 plants across North America, serving accounts with almost all of the continent's OEMs. The company operates one plant in Ontario, Canada, and another in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Most of the company's U.S. plants are spread across the Southeast. Last year the firm was honored with 23 supplier awards from Toyota.
While the town of Winchester will see 20 jobs move just east, it is seeing its own new joint venture: Advanced Green Components, a partnership between Canton, Ohio-based Timken Co., Himeji, Japan-based Sanyo Special Steel Co. and Kishiwada, Osaka, Japan-based Showa Seiko Co. to make forged and machined components.
Timken has operated a plant in Winchester since 1997, employing some 50 people in the manufacture of forged and machined rings for bearings. Another 40,000 sq. ft. (3,716 sq. m.) will be added on by spring 2004. Capacity will be doubled at the plant, which will now be reformed under the joint venture, and employment is projected to reach 130 by the time full capacity is reached in 2005.
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"The facility is well-suited to operate as an independent business based in large measure on the consistent outstanding work ethic of the associates," said Karl P. Kimmerling, president – automotive, in October 2002. "The added investment in capital and technology provided by the joint venture partners bodes well not only for our customers and shareholders, but also for the associates themselves and the entire community."
In its drive to be more customer-focused and less asset-intensive, the JV helps Timken by adding to capacity without investing in a new physical plant, and by keeping valuable employees.
"Early last year, the company launched the second phase of its transformation, emphasizing a strategic refocusing of our manufacturing operations," said Kimmerling. "This phase is focused on reducing fixed and var iable costs and increasing competitiveness. On bearing cups and cones, for certain high-volume applications, forgings achieve significant material savings and reduced machining because the components are closer to the shape and size of the final product. As a result, bearing manufacturing speed and efficiency increase."
"Our metal working technology experience and capital investment enables the enhancement of existing forging and machining processes, improving both equipment uptime and performance," said Kunihiko Bando, chairman of the board, representative director of Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd. "Sanyo, Showa Seiko Co. and Timken are industry leaders and this joint venture helps all three companies maintain their global competitiveness."