Thursday, 17 March 2016
Visit to JCB HQ Factory
Visit to JCB HQ Factory Thursday 18 June 2015
On 18 June, 19 members from the Birmingham Region paid an afternoon visit to the JCB Headquarters in Rocester Staffs.
We were greeted with refreshments before watching an introductory video presentation about the company in the superb ‘cinema/theatre’ facility at the plant.
Our guides then split us into two groups for a visit to the ‘Story of JCB’ which is a £5m ‘state of the art’ exhibition showing many displays, artefacts and machines depicting the foundation of the company in 1945 in Utoxeter by Joseph Cyril Bamford to its present position as the world’s third largest manufacturer of construction, demolition and agricultural plant and machinery. The term ‘JCB’ is one of the very few product names to be colloquially used as a generic term for a construction digger along with ‘Hoover’ for vacuum cleaner and ‘Biro’ for ballpoint pen.
The two groups were then taken on a guided tour of the factory which produces several product lines including the iconic backhoe loader (JCB Digger). We saw the whole manufacturing process from raw material input to the finished product rolling off the production line. What a fascinating insight this was!
Although JCB is still a family business run by the founder’s own son, Lord Anthony Bamford, since 1975, it is a worldwide business with 11 factories in the UK and another 11 around the world in four continents and employs 11,000 people.
Our party were then taken to the works restaurant for a very well received afternoon cream tea before gathering outside for our group photograph to end the day.
Gerry Marsden
Birmingham Region IAEA