CUMMINS – one of the North-East’s most prominent manufacturing names – is celebrating its centenary this year. The company, which has a world-class factory in Darlington, makes engines that power vehicles across the globe. But how much do you know about Cummins? PETER BARRON provides an at-a-glance guide

  • Cummins is a global company, with its headquarters in Indiana USA.
  • The company’s founder, Clessie Cummins (below), was one of the first people responsible for moving the commercial vehicle market from petrol to diesel to drive efficiency and lower costs.

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  • ​Cummins' first factory outside of the USA was in Shotts, Scotland, with Darlington being the second.
  • The early V6 and V8 diesel engines produced at the plant were innovative designs to replace petrol engines in trucks. 187,000 were built from 1965 to 1984.
  • In 1985 the plant moved to production of the B Series engine (see below), the predecessor of the engines built today.  This was a major risk for the company, a development project which cost more than the value of the company at the time.  This engine has become one of the best-selling in the marketplace with more than 15 million sold today and more than one million coming from Darlington.

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  • Darlington is one of two engine plants in the UK, and one of 18 around the world.  It produced 67,000 engines in 2018, and builds around 300 per day for more than 180 customers from 53 countries around the world.  Customers are as close as Komatsu excavator plant in Birtley and as far away as Hyundai construction in Korea.

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  • Components are supplied by more than 400 suppliers also on a global scale.
  • Darlington engines are used in many ways; trucks, buses, construction, agriculture and mining equipment, fork-lift trucks, military, marine and power generation.

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  • The Darlington buildings are more than 50 years old and have listed designs. The components plant was the first building in the country to be made with Cor-Ten steel, which has the weathered look to blend into the environment.

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  • Site investment of £20 million over the last few years has improved engineering, production capability and office facilities.  By the end of the year, the site will employ 1,300 people across engine production, technical, sales and marketing, purchasing and Cummins Business Services.
  • The site incorporates Cummins Emission Solutions, who develop, test and manufacture exhaust after-treatment systems that significantly reduce engine emissions to near zero levels.  These match closely with the engines to meet the stringent emissions regulations.
  • The European Technical Operations are located in Darlington.  This group designs and develops brand new engines, with a substantial test centre to prove their performance, durability and cleanliness. Incorporated into this is the Pilot Centre, which puts Cummins engines into customer equipment or vehicles to test them out.  They are also looking at future power solutions such as electric.

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