10-24-2008, 05:42 PM
From: http://stories.globalatlanta.com/2008sto...16324.html
Kia Motors is one step closer to making cars in Georgia after its first 3,500 tons of automobile-making equipment came ashore at the Port of Savannah on Oct. 9.
The components will be transported from Savannah to the Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia Inc. plant in West Point in 128 separate loads over the next few weeks, according to a Georgia Department of Economic Development press release.
Special trucking arrangements must be made to move some of the pieces, which weigh up to 125 tons each.
After traveling the 300 ground miles to reach Kia’s $1.2 billion facility, they’ll be assembled into two massive presses that will make panels for the Sorento SUVs the plant aims to start making by the last quarter of 2009.
The first, called a “blanking press,” uses 600 tons of pressure to mold steel into “blanks” that will later be shaped by a transfer press.
The transfer press stamps the steel with a force of 5,400 tons, molding it into 17 different panel types to create the hood, doors and fenders of the vehicles.
The ship carrying the components left Masan, South Korea, on Aug. 12, and made a 15,000-mile journey over the Pacific Ocean, through the Panama Canal, around Florida and up the Atlantic coastline to Georgia.
Hyundai Rotem Co., a subsidiary of the Hyundai Motor Co., manufactured the presses and will assemble them in West Point.
At full capacity, the Kia plant will produce 300,000 vehicles per year. It will directly employ more than 2,500 workers. Along with suppliers that have moved to the state, Kia’s presence will create more than 6,000 jobs in Georgia.
Kia Motors is one step closer to making cars in Georgia after its first 3,500 tons of automobile-making equipment came ashore at the Port of Savannah on Oct. 9.
The components will be transported from Savannah to the Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia Inc. plant in West Point in 128 separate loads over the next few weeks, according to a Georgia Department of Economic Development press release.
Special trucking arrangements must be made to move some of the pieces, which weigh up to 125 tons each.
After traveling the 300 ground miles to reach Kia’s $1.2 billion facility, they’ll be assembled into two massive presses that will make panels for the Sorento SUVs the plant aims to start making by the last quarter of 2009.
The first, called a “blanking press,” uses 600 tons of pressure to mold steel into “blanks” that will later be shaped by a transfer press.
The transfer press stamps the steel with a force of 5,400 tons, molding it into 17 different panel types to create the hood, doors and fenders of the vehicles.
The ship carrying the components left Masan, South Korea, on Aug. 12, and made a 15,000-mile journey over the Pacific Ocean, through the Panama Canal, around Florida and up the Atlantic coastline to Georgia.
Hyundai Rotem Co., a subsidiary of the Hyundai Motor Co., manufactured the presses and will assemble them in West Point.
At full capacity, the Kia plant will produce 300,000 vehicles per year. It will directly employ more than 2,500 workers. Along with suppliers that have moved to the state, Kia’s presence will create more than 6,000 jobs in Georgia.