On Oct. 7,Penn Collegewelding faculty toured the CNH (Case New Holland) manufacturing facility in Belleville.
CNH is one of the world's leading manufacturers of agricultural and construction equipment, part of a truly worldwide family. The plant in Belleville, south of State College, focuses its manufacturing efforts on primarily hay-making and handling equipment, as well as manure spreaders and bucket-loader assemblies for the New Holland tractors manufactured at another facility.
The tour was led by recent Penn College welding graduate Ken Ellis, welding engineer at the Belleville plant. The CNH plant utilizes several different industrial laser-cutting cells with state-of-the-art palletized material-handling systems, in conjunction with industrial robotic welding cells, as well as numerous manual welding stations.
CNH personnel included the welding faculty in their Employee Appreciation Day luncheon. Invitations were extended in both directions for future visits and tours, with tentative plans for another trip to CNH with a robotic welding class in the spring.