Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America celebrates 25th anniversary

This month, Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc. (MCFA) celebrated its 25th anniversary.

On July 1, 1992, MCFA started as a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Caterpillar Industrial Inc. While MCFA celebrated 25 years, its experience in the material handling industry reaches nearly 100 years with the Cat lift trucks and Mitsubishi forklift truck brands.

Since 1992, MCFA has celebrated several milestones including:
1994 – Company headquarters moved from Mentor, Ohio to Houston, Texas
1994 – Parts company formed in Indianapolis to bring parts supply closer to customers. This helped to reduce lead time and improve customer support.
1998 – MCFA’s 100,000th forklift shipped
2010 – MCFA entered into a manufacturing and distribution agreement with Jungheinrich AG based in Hamburg, Germany. This allowed MCFA to bring Jungheinrich warehouse products to customers in North America through MCFA’s established dealer network.
2012 – MCFA launches Jungheinrich Warehouse Navigation technology in North America. This industry exclusive technology for North America can increase productivity by up to 25%.
2017 – MCFA announced a joint venture with Jungheinrich AG to form Industrial Components of Texas, LLC (ICOTEX), a new company that will manufacture industrial components.

Since 1992, MCFA has more than quadrupled its employee base. In addition, MCFA’s facility size has expanded from 172,000 square feet to 866,512 square feet.

Since 2013, Ken Barina has served as the president of MCFA. Barina is the first American president. Under his leadership, MCFA has continued to evolve. In 2014, MCFA opened a new electric assembly building, which increased production capability by 40% and created new jobs in Houston.

Barina has more than 30 years of experience in the material handling industry, including 25 years of service at MCFA. During his tenure at MCFA, he has held a variety of leadership roles, including general manager of Rapidparts Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MCFA in Grand Rapids, Mich.