Author: Mandy Tan

The honour was announced by the Lord Chamberlain’s Office and comes more than 40 years after JCB was granted a Royal Warrant from Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

A Royal Warrant of Appointment allows JCB to use the Royal Arms in connection with its business and is granted for three years from 2025 as a mark of recognition for the ongoing manufacturing of equipment for the Royal Household.

As part of the granting of a Royal Warrant, JCB will have the right to display the appropriate Royal Arms on its products, packaging, stationery, advertising, premises and vehicles.

In addition to featuring the JCB Fastrac iCON high-speed tractors, the exhibit will underscore JCB’s leading role in efficient materials handling, with innovative British-built solutions that include the World No1 Loadall telescopic handler range and wheeled loaders purpose-built for agriculture from ultra-compact machines to the biggest and most powerful loading shovels.

New to the Loadall telehandler line-up are top-spec AGRI Pro versions of the 538-60 and 560-80, the former bringing the 50kph DualTech VT hydro-mechanical transmission to the 6m class for the first time, providing hydrostatic drive for precision low-speed control and auto powershift direct drive for efficient field and road travel.

The AGRI Pro spec also features an uprated driveline with heavier-duty axles, wider tyres and a dual-axle power braking system to further raise the productivity potential of these machines.

For high-lift operations – particularly stacking and retrieving bales – the new JCB Loadall 542-100 combines 4.2 tonne lift capacity and 9.8m lift height with the 40kph or 50kph DualTech VT transmission.

Yet despite these all-round gains – including the heavier duty driveline on the 50kph version – the newcomer is no bigger than the continuing 536-95, so it has the manoeuvrability needed for every-day work in and around farm buildings.

Two new wheeled loaders are at opposite ends of the performance spectrum – the 403E Full Cab is a battery-electric ultra-compact machine with special control features to keep the operator warm and comfortable with least possible impact on work time.

Meanwhile, the latest JCB 435S heavy-duty silage and muck loader gains significantly increased power and torque throughout the engine’s operating speed range, and new six-speed powershift control features that lift performance efficiency on the clamp and on the road.

JCB Intelliweigh, which comes with an optional printer, has been specifically designed and developed for JCB wheeled loading shovels. It is capable of weighing loads on a multitude of attachments even when working on uneven ground conditions, leading to reduced cycle times and maximum tonnes per hour performance.

Offering a +/-2% accuracy rating and an ergonomic 7” touchscreen display with physical keys for increased useability, the Intelliweigh system is compatible with up to 10 different attachments, including forks and buckets. An integrated GPS system delivers precision machine productivity tracking and material location tracking capabilities, offering site managers real-time feedback on material stock levels and locations.

Intelliweigh can be used as a split system, allowing the operator to load and weigh multiple vehicles on a single site. Individual targets can be set for each vehicle while maintaining the same overall target weight, to ensure that all vehicles and trailers are filled evenly and to their maximum capacity. This also reduces the risk of individual vehicles being overloaded. Split loading provides the convenience of combined weight tickets, to allow customers to calculate total combined material weights from a site.

The Intelliweigh display can also be used to show the reversing camera feed, when fitted. This allows the operator to see all useful functions on a single screen, improving site safety and reducing operator fatigue. An onboard printer is provided to provide weight tickets from within the cab. Intelliweigh data can also be automatically uploaded to a customer’s systems, with live updates on machine efficiency and production.

Production started in 2004 at JCB Power Systems in Foston, Derbyshire, and expanded to JCB India in 2010 with the opening of a dedicated plant in Ballabgarh, Delhi. From three engines a day 20 years ago, JCB now produces around 500 a day, becoming a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of diesel engines and is now pioneering development of hydrogen combustion engines.

Anthony Bamford | JCB Chairman

“It was a major decision at the time to make our own engines and I was directly involved in that; it has paid off and I’m very pleased we made the decision. As we hit the milestone of producing one million engines, the time is right to acknowledge the part my played father in the design, not only of this engine, but other engines which he designed with other people in the past. My father died in 2001 so our engines were running as prototypes by that time, and he had a lot to do with it. I’m thankful he was involved in this engine so many years ago.”

JCB Power Systems’ engines have been instrumental in helping set world records – firstly when the JCB Dieselmax streamliner, powered by two JCB engines, became the fastest diesel-powered car in the world in 2006 when it reached a speed of 350.092mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats, USA – a record that still stands. In 2019, JCB’s Fastrac tractor stormed into the record books as the world’s fastest tractor with a speed of 135.191 mph – thanks to JCB’s 7.2 litre, 6-cylinder Dieselmax engine.

A team of more than 150 engineers is currently engaged in developing hi-tech hydrogen combustion engines for use in JCB machinery as part of a £100 million investment. More than 120 engines have come off the production line so far and many machines powered by these super-efficient engines are currently undergoing evaluation.

The start of construction was signalled at an official ground breaking ceremony at the site in San Antonio, Texas, where The Hon. Alice Bamford, daughter of company Chairman Anthony Bamford, cut the first sod of earth.

Work on the 720,000 sq. ft (67,000m²) factory is under way on a 400-acre site and will create 1,500 new jobs over five years. It will be the company’s second largest plant, rivalled only by the manufacturer’s World HQ in Rocester, Staffordshire, UK. The factory will make Loadall telescopic handlers and aerial access equipment, with production scheduled to start in 2026. The factory will also have the capacity to expand into the manufacture of other products in the future.

Chairman Lord Bamford said: “Construction equipment manufacturers sell more than 300,000 machines every year in North America, making it the single largest market in the world. JCB has been growing its share of this important market steadily over the past few years and the time is now right to invest in our manufacturing capacity in North America, where we already have one factory.”

Lord Bamford | JCB Chairman

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said: “Texas was this year named as The Best State for Business for a record-breaking 20th year, and I am proud to welcome JCB as the newest business to call our great state home. Today’s groundbreaking marks a major milestone in JCB’s journey that will create 1,500 good-paying jobs for hardworking Texans in Bexar County and bring hundreds of millions of new capital investment to San Antonio and beyond. ‘Made in Texas’ is truly a powerful global brand, and I look forward to celebrating JCB’s continuing success as we work together to build a bigger, better Texas for decades to come.”

Richard Fox-Marrs, President & CEO of JCB North America, said: “The Loadall telescopic handler is JCB’s biggest selling product in North America and it is also the single largest market for aerial access equipment worldwide, and therefore, it makes great sense to build these two ranges here.

“Texas is an obvious choice for our new North American manufacturing facility, not least because the State is the largest consumer of construction equipment in the USA. San Antonio is also the logical choice as a location for our new factory because of its central location, proximity to the supply chain and great local labour force. We are really excited about JCB’s new San Antonio factory and for the future of our business in North America.”

JCB sold its first machine in North America in 1964 and opened its first manufacturing plant there in 2001 in Savannah, Georgia, which employs 1,000 people. The new facility will manufacture machines for customers specifically in North America.

JCB employs 19,000 people and has 22 factories around the world, including 11 in the UK, seven in India, and others in Brazil and China. The company will mark its 80th anniversary in 2025

The LiveLink Asset Tag is a small battery-powered, Bluetooth-transmitting device that can be fixed to any asset – from hand tools, machine attachments such as breakers, buckets, and sweeper collectors, through to skips, powerpacks and site accommodation units. Discover the new Asset Tag at Hillhead 2024, where visitors can enter a LiveLink giveaway to be in with a chance to win one of the new tags, a LiveLink renewal or reconnection.

The tag integrates with JCB LiveLink, a fleet management system, providing complete visibility and improving productivity by eradicating the time wasted locating misplaced equipment.

At 68mm x 32mm x 16mm and weighing just 50g, the tags are compact, discrete, and lightweight. Attached by bolts or adhesive, they are strong and durable, achieving the highest IP69K rating for protection against dust and water ingress. This makes them capable of withstanding the rugged outdoor conditions typically found in the construction and agricultural sectors.

They function by transmitting a Bluetooth connection from any enabled LiveLink unit or partner units, to track the location of any piece of equipment registered within the customer’s LiveLink account.

LiveLink Asset Tag uses the latest Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0 technology and can be located within an 800-metre line of sight range of the nearest enabled LiveLink unit or partner unit. The tags feature an impressive four-year battery life.

Mario Moser | JCB Aftermarket Managing Director

“Losing or misplacing any piece of equipment can be costly and result in unnecessary downtime. Designed to bridge the gap between larger machine telematics and the types of site equipment not typically monitored, the Asset Tag provides increased visibility and control over all assets.”

Launched in 2011 and now with over 500,000 machines monitored by the system, JCB LiveLink gives machine operators and fleet managers easy access to all data through an online portal and mobile app. Every aspect of fleet management is covered with features including service tracking, security geofencing, What3words global location, machine utilisation data and mixed fleet functionality.