Bobcat builds assembly plant, global hub in Brooklyn Park

The Bobcat Co., which makes the nimble skid-steer loader that two Minnesota brothers created 50 years ago, has added a new tractor assembly plant in Brooklyn Park, where it is also centralizing import, export and U.S. distribution operations.

The move by Fargo, N.D.,-based Bobcat is aimed at maximizing efficiencies and will make the Twin Cities its global transportation hub for more than $1 billion worth of compact construction machinery sold annually.

The consolidation is expected to save millions of dollars because supply routes have been changed from three locations to one, officials said.

Beginning next month, goods from Bobcat's two North Dakota plants and its Litchfield, Minn., accessories factory will be shipped to Brooklyn Park for export around the world.

The new building, which has 25 workers, is also being used as an import hub for excavators sent from German suppliers, loaders from Czech Republic suppliers and the telescopic booms Bobcat makes in France.

In January, the leased Brooklyn Park facility that spans 92,000 square feet also became an assembly plant for a new product line of compact tractors that Bobcat's new owner, Doosan Infracore, is shipping here from its base in Seoul, South Korea.

The new tractors, which bear the Bobcat name, put the company in head-to-head competition with tractor heavyweights John Deere, Kubota and New Holland.

Three more tractor models will be introduced by June and more workers are expected to be hired, Girard said.

"This really complements our portfolio of other compact construction equipment that we sell at our dealers. It really fills our product gap for landscapers, small farms and landowners with significant acreage," said Girard.

The new tractor line will also offer versatility and horsepower in tight construction or farm sites, officials said. The new machines feature 20 to 35 horsepower engines and bodies stretching just 47 to 56 inches wide and up to 10 feet long.

The Doosan tractor engines and chassis made in South Korea will be assembled into finished tractors in Brooklyn Park and be distributed throughout the United States and Canada. The tractors work with Bobcat's existing line of interchangeable backhoes, augers, mowers, seeders, rakes and other attachments that are made in Litchfield.

South Korea-based Doosan, a diversified company best known for large construction equipment, desalination plants and liquor products, sells large excavators and earth movers in the United States. The Bobcat acquisition added a compact equipment niche that it was lacking, Girard said.