Ken Garner Manufacturing started in 1984, when founder Ken Garner, Sr retired from Combustion Engineering and started a new operation as Ken Garner & Associates. This original organization was mainly involved in the production of automated machines for MIG (Metal Inert Gas) and resistance welding applications in high production industries such as home appliances and residential mowers. Just three years later, Ken Garner & Associates was given the opportunity to produce its first excavator counterweight for Komatsu America, Inc.
The company continued to grow as the supplier Cobble Machine was purchased; the Cleveland, TN, operation was opened; and Ken Garner Manufacturing, Inc was formed as a corporation, focused on integrating machining, fixture, and tooling production into existing operations. The ongoing growth of KGM meant a larger building was needed in the Fall of 1996 and existing operations were consolidated in the new larger facility. As excavator industry matured and designs became more complex, KGM made the choice to invest in the future and brought on the substantial new process of deep drawing with the 1996 purchase of a 1500 Ton press.
In 2008 KGM constructed a full counterweight production facility in Rural Hall, NC, in order to support a growing Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery operation in Kernersville, NC. In November of 2009 the Chattanooga facility experienced significant fire damage to the paint line, but because of the redundancy in operations and dedicated workforce, no shipments to customers were missed. The Chattanooga employees took their production fixtures and tools up to North Carolina and spent several months staying in hotels and maintaining production from the Rural Hall facility, until a new paint line was completed in Chattanooga.
The past ten years have seen additional growth for KGM. In 2011 and 2012, KGM began to utilize the heavy press capacity to form single piece wheel cones for Compactor Wheels. In 2014, the number of locations for KGM grew as a new plant in Victoria, TX, was completed to produce counterweights for Caterpillars new plant across the street there. KGM also began the production of complete wheels for soil compactors in 2018, and has had success in proving out several new equipment additions to facilitate this. As opportunities arise, KGM will continue to grow, develop new processes, and streamline existing operations to continue to serve its customers well.