Peterbilt Motors Co.’s Denton, TX, assembly plant is celebrating its 35th anniversary this week; a facility with a history that starts in 1980 with 81 workers building 2.5 trucks per week to today’s 455,000 sq. ft. facility that is home to more than 2,000 employees building over 160 trucks per day.
The company noted that its Denton plant has undergone numerous changes to increase efficiency, capacity and productivity over the last three and half decades, including the addition of a robotic chassis paint system.
Recent improvements to the plant include robotic cab assembly for the OEM’s Models 579 and 567 truck platforms, as well as the addition of a non-contact axle alignment system.
The plant is also undergoing a three phase expansion project:
- Phase one created additional east side dock doors and receiving capacity.
- Phase two will add 17,000 square feet of additional material receiving area on the west side of the facility.
- Phase three, scheduled for completion in mid-2016, will create an automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) on the second level of the building to index painted hoods, cabs and sleepers.
In 2014 the company added the “Peterbilt Experience” to its Denton plant; a 4,300 sq.-ft. exhibit includes: “Old No. 1,” a Model 359 that was the first truck off Denton’s assembly line in 1980; a 1939 Model 260WD, the oldest complete Peterbilt known to exist; a 1940 Model 334; Peterbilt’s newest Models 579 and 567; cab and sleeper cutaways; the full lineup of PACCAR engines; and videos and interactive displays on topics such as truck innovations, styling processes and manufacturing technologies.
