Nissan North America, Inc., has officially launched crankshaft forging production at the Decherd Powertrain Assembly Plant in Decherd, Tennesse. During the ceremony, Nissan executives also announced a US$34.7m capital investment to expand the plant to add cylinder block casting production in the spring of 2008.
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Dan Gaudette, Nissan senior vice president of North American Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management, stated: “Having the forging plant and, soon, the casting plant located next to where these key engine components will be machined and assembled is a major opportunity for Nissan North America.
The forging facility covers 63,000-square-foot and at full capacity will produce 1.1 million crankshaft forgings annually for the engines manufactured in Decherd for all Nissan and Infiniti vehicles built at the company’s vehicle assembly plants in Smyrna, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi. Forgings will also be exported to Nissan’s vehicle assembly plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
The new forging facility is located on the northeast side of the current Decherd facility, adjacent to the engine machining plant and connected via a corridor. Nissan North America invested US$48m in the crankshaft forging operation, which will reach full production in March 2007. The forging operation requires about 60 employees.
The US$34.7m casting project will add another 51,000 square-foot to the existing 1 million-square-foot facility. At full capacity, the facility will require 50 employees to produce 192,000 cylinder block castings annually for the 3.5-liter VQ V6 engine found in the popular Altima sedan.
Groundbreaking is scheduled for late fall 2006, with operations launching in the spring of 2008.
