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90 years of Kobelco

The year 2020 is a significant one for Kobelco Construction Machinery (KCM), as it is 90 years since the manufacturer created Japan’s first electric mining shovel, an innovation that would go on to have a significant impact on both the business and the worldwide construction industry.

By 1960, Kobelco completed the Okubo factory and manufacturing of construction machinery began. Today, this factory still exists and is dedicated to the production of Kobelco cranes. It is one of four Kobelco factories in Japan. In 1967, the first crawler-type hydraulic excavator was produced by using Kobelco-own technology, the H208, kickstarting another 40 years of Kobelco innovation with the release of the SK-New MARKII series of hydraulic excavators (1987), the urban-type hydraulic excavator ‘Acera’ series (1989) and the ‘Beetle’ series of short rear tailswing mini excavators (1996).

Over the last two decades, Kobelco has remained at the forefront of excavator technology – its hi-tech Itsukaichi factory now plays a key role as the production base for Kobelco excavators and the development of advanced technology. One of Kobelco’s most important innovations to date has been the development of hybrid technology – Kobelco was the first major excavator manufacturer to instigate hybrid development in 1999.

This led to the reveal of a hybrid excavator (HE-01) in 2007, followed by sales of the hybrid excavator 80H (8-tonne class) in 2010. Kobelco’s first 20-tonne class hybrid excavator was the SK200H-9, before the SK210HLC-10 was launched in 2017 – the world’s first hybrid excavator to use lithium-ion battery technology.

In recent years, Kobelco has expanded into the demolition sector, building the world’s highest building demolition machine (SK3500D) in 2006. Other notable creations include a machine structure with a common-use type base boom and interchangeable attachments, allowing one machine to be adapted to multiple specifications. The SK350DLC-10, SK400DLC-10 and SK550DLC-10 demolition machines all feature Kobelco’s proven NEXT system for both high elevation and foundation demolition work, giving the operator the ability to change tools on site and work at multiple heights with a single machine.

In 2007, Kobelco released a short rear tail swing hydraulic excavator with a new Integrated Noise & Dust Reduction (iNDr) cooling system. This method of noise suppression was said to promote low noise, exceptional engine cooling, enhanced reliability, minimal machine downtime and a more comfortable working environment for the operator. Today, this technology can be found in many mini, midi and medium-sized excavators.

A major milestone for Kobelco in the last decade was the re-establishment of the Kobelco Construction Machinery Europe B.V. (KCME) headquarters in Almere, the Netherlands in 2013. Over the past seven years, this important base has provided an efficient and responsive service and full aftersales support for its European customers across 64 dealers and 270 outlets in 60 countries. Worldwide, Kobelco operates in 200 countries with almost 8,000 employees.

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