Dejana Truck and Utility Equipment announces the opening of a new 90,000-sq.-ft. ship-thru facility in Kansas City, Mo.
According to Dejana, the new facility will be located entirely underground in the Hunt Midwest Automotive Alley Subtropolis. The facility has been granted ship-thru code 31G (assembly plant D9K) for the Ford Transit and the F-150, and will primarily install commercial van interiors as well as F150 upfits and accessories.
The new Dejana location is in close proximity to Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant (KCAP), which will enable the company to quickly move vehicles to the upfitting operation and then out for distribution to dealerships nationwide. The facility has the ability to accommodate over 300 vehicles through storage, staging and production, entirely indoors, out of the elements, in a climate-controlled environment, the company says.
The Kansas City operation is Dejana’s tenth manufacturing facility and their second ship-thru location. The facility has two primary assembly lines with adjacent production areas for pre-assembly, electrical, decaling and quality control. It also has 1,500 sq. ft. of office space for Dejana’s engineering, production and general administrative staff. The entire production process is being developed using the proprietary Douglas Dynamics Manufacturing System (DDMS) for maximum throughput and efficiency.
“The facility is setup so that we can flex capacity up and down as business conditions require. But more importantly, easily add capacity to our footprint as we grow this part of our business,” says Patrick Dietz, general manager, van interiors, Dejana Truck and Utility Equipment.
The facility is fully operational and production ready. Dejana says the first job is expected through the facility in the fourth quarter of 2017 and Dejana’s fleet management team is accepting orders from Ford Dealerships, fleet accounts and leasing companies nationwide.
