Cummins opens state-of-the-art facility in Sparwood

The new Cummins location is located directly across the street from their former location in Sparwood, at 656 Sparwood Drive.

Manager Mike Miller proudly shows off the new Cummins facility in Sparwood. — Photo courtesy Kootenay Business

The brand-new, 10,000-plus square-foot shop belonging to Cummins Western Canada opened in Sparwood on February 6.

Cummins’s former premises were expanded several times and included an Atco trailer and rented space on an adjacent property, but growing demands on the operation made this arrangement inadequate and less than ideal.

“With coal prices ramping up there is a greater focus on truck availability (and) more streamlined service,” said Mike Miller, manager of the Sparwood branch. “We’re consolidated in a significantly bigger space now, under one roof. This brings us up to the Cummins standards.”

About half of the sleek new space holds parts for the maintenance and repairs that 19 Cummins technicians perform throughout the Elk Valley. The rest of the space contains offices, tool storage, a customer conference room, a lunch room and additional space for use of Cummins employees.

The addition of a loading dock is a welcome upgrade that increases efficiency and safety, and the switch-over to the City’s water and sewer system has created a more user-friendly workplace under new service manager, Warren Raasch.

“That’s a huge convenience,” Miller said. “It allows our guys a better facility where they can get cleaned up.”

Cummins is the world’s largest independent manufacturer of diesel engines. Its new address in Sparwood is 656 Sparwood Drive, across from its former location.