Cummins plants mark engine production milestones

The Cummins Rocky Mount Engine Plant in North Carolina recently produced its 5 millionth engine and leads all Cummins engine manufacturing facilities in the number of engines built by more than a million units. (Photo: Cummins)

Cummins has marked a pair of significant engine manufacturing milestones at two of its most iconic facilities. The company said it produced the 5 millionth engine produced at its Rocky Mount Engine Plant (RMEP) in North Carolina, along with its 2.5 millionth engine produced at its Jamestown Engine Plant (JEP) in New York.

RMEP produces the B6.7 and L9 used by Daimler Truck North America and Penske, among other engines for various OEMs and applications, including pickup & delivery, vocational trucks and school buses. The 5 millionth milestone engine is a B6.7, which will be received by Daimler, which will provide it to Penske.

Located in Whitakers, N.C., RMEP is the first Cummins plant to reach 5 million engines produced, more than a million ahead of any other Cummins engine facility. It was established in 1979 as part of a joint venture with JI Case called Consolidated Diesel Co. and produced its first engines in 1983. In 2008, Cummins acquired full ownership of the facility, which was renamed the RMEP.

(Photo: Cummins)

“Rocky Mount Engine Plant has been important to Cummins for more than 40 years, and as we celebrate production of the 5 millionth engine, we know the plant – and our employees here – will continue to play a significant role as Cummins moves ahead with our Destination Zero strategy and our future fuel agnostic platform,” said Steve Pinkston, Cummins Rocky Mount Engine Plant manager. “We’re excited about the improvements to existing manufacturing technology at Rocky Mount Engine Plant and introducing new fuel agnostic technologies in markets and applications in line with our Destination Zero strategy. We are looking forward to RMEP manufacturing today’s technology and these future products as they launch.”

Cummins recently built the 2.5 millionth engine at its Jamestown Engine Plant in upstate New York. The company is investing $452 million into the facility, which will house production of its 15 L fuel agnostic engine platform. (Photo: Cummins)

The 2.5 millionth engine at JEP in Jamestown, New York, was an X15N, Cummins’ new 15 L natural gas product. Kenworth will be the recipient of the milestone engine, which will be installed in a Legacy W900 truck and provided to Palmer Kenworth, a Kenworth dealership network serving Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois.

Cummins said it is investing $452 million into the 998,000 sq. ft. Jamestown facility, to produce the company’s fuel-agnostic internal combustion engine platform that is designed to leverage a range of lower carbon fuel types, including natural gas and hydrogen. The investment is intended to retain the thousands of current engineering and manufacturing jobs and support the creation of new jobs as Cummins invests its people and facilities to grow innovation and accelerate decarbonization efforts.

“Our employees are innovating to find new ways of working that use fewer of the world’s resources, and the Engine Business is at the center of this exciting innovation,” said Srikanth Padmanabhan, vice president and president, Cummins Engine Business. “Our fuel agnostic platform builds on decades of experience manufacturing industry-leading products. It is essential to our commitment to help customers reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

JEP is one of Cummins’ largest manufacturing facilities. The facility has been operating for 49 years and has more than 1500 employees and serves 1949 active customers. JEP is also the largest private employer in Chautauqua County and the southern tier of New York.