Kawasaki consolidates engine division

In an effort to have a closer relationship with the rest of the company's groups, Kawasaki Engines Division has announced the relocation of its research and development division from Marysville, Missouri, to Grand Rapids, Michigan. The consolidation into the newly renovated building was recognized with a grand reopening celebration of the location.

“Grand Rapids is close to our OEM customers, so we're able to have a quicker relationship with those customers, have better direct communication with them between OEM sales, application engineering and R&D, so we're able to have a quicker response to our OEMs request for OEM sales and R&D working together in the same place,” said Dave Sugden, newly named director of research & development for the company.

Being able to work together with all the groups in the same building will allow Kawasaki to utilize all its resources in creating engines customers want. The 200,000-square-foot facility includes 66,500 square feet of renovated offices and an R&D lab.

“I talk a lot about outside in and inside out development,” said Kurt Forrest, director of OEM sales. “I think that's where the best product development happens – our team, the OEM sales team – we're that primary conduits if you will, or funnel, through which that information flows, so it's our job to ensure that our OEM customers needs in the market are brought into this building.”

Forrest said being located in the same building will change team interactions from deliberate, via the phone, to serendipitous, perhaps at a vending machine, creating unique opportunities for conversation and innovation with other employees.

“You can't overstate the benefit of those interactions," he said. "We're bumping and colliding all the time in this building now, and creativity happens that way. Great work gets done and great products get produced.”

Another benefit to location is its proximity to Detroit and Chicago, making it a good spot for recruiting.

“It's allowing us to recruit good, experienced engineers with automotive skills and education,” Sugden said. “Also, electrical engineers with experience, and EFI calibration engineers which is very important to us going forward with our new EFI systems.”

On May 18, Kawasaki held a grand reopening celebration, which included speeches from top executives, traditional Japanese musical entertainment, a ribbon cutting and a sake toast.

"You're a very strong team here in Grand Rapids," said Kazuo Ota, president of Kawasaki Motorcycle & Engine Company in Japan. "A team that works in harmony with each other."

He said the company founders would be honored to see their pictures on the location's Heritage Wall, which highlights the history of Kawasaki, back to its beginning in the 1850s. The company's first engine for the global general purpose division, the KF-4, is also on display in the building. It was manufactured in Akashi, Japan in 1957.

The R&D move took place from October of 2015 through June of 2016 and involved the relocation of 12 staff from the Marysville location. Kawasaki executives acknowledged that the decision to ask people to make such a change wasn't made lightly.

“It was the right thing for our team and for our customers,” Forrester said.