MCFA staff mark their milestone

Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc. (MCFA) is celebrating a major milestone, marking 25 years of quality materials handling production and distribution.

"MCFA has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last 25 years," says Ken Barina, president of MCFA. "From a small operation of 335 employees to the nearly 1,200 we have today, MCFA has continued to make significant strides in not only the Class IV and V internal combustion forklift market, but also in the electric segment with our innovative Class I, II and III warehouse products."

Founded July 1, 1992, MCFA has undergone an expansion of its Houston-based manufacturing facilities over the last several years to accommodate product growth as well as the industry's growing demand for electric forklift products. The portfolio of products manufactured at MCFA are distributed and supported by an extensive network of local dealerships.

"Our dealer network remains one of the most experienced and dedicated in the industry," says Barina. "They offer comprehensive customer support programs in all our markets, ranging from highly-trained technicians to extensive parts availability."

Over the last quarter of a century, MCFA has made several advances in its drive to be the leading manufacturer of forklifts. These include the addition of Jungheinrich-branded warehouse products to MCFA's existing Cat lift trucks and Mitsubishi forklift trucks product lines - providing customers with access to all five classes of lift trucks through MCFA's dealer network.

Other milestones include opening a new electric assembly facility on MCFA's manufacturing campus, a move that brought a 40% increase in production capability and created new manufacturing jobs in Houston.

MCFA has also localised the production of several key forklift products, such as the Cat lift trucks and Mitsubishi forklift trucks 6-16 T internal combustion models, to Houston to reduce lead time.

MCFA will celebrate the production of its 450,000th forklift later this year - marking another huge milestone for the company. Later this month, the company will also begin a second expansion of its electric assembly building, doubling the amount of production space for electric forklift models on MCFA's Houston campus.