CNH Parts & Service, Racine, Wis., the product support business of global agricultural and construction equipment maker CNH Global N.V., held a grand opening Feb. 24 for its new 246,000-sq.-ft. parts distribution center in Portland, Ore., including tours of the center and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The facility, which began operations in January, serves more than 140 New Holland, Case IH and Case Construction equipment dealerships in the Pacific Northwest. When fully staffed, it will add 35 to 40 new jobs to the Portland area and carry about $17 million in inventory, according to Anu Goel, vice president, North American parts operations for CNH Parts & Service. CNH also has committed $15 million to build out, equip and make infrastructure additions required for future expansion at the site.

“We’re excited. We want our dealers and the end users of New Holland, Case IH and Case Construction equipment to have the best order-to-delivery service in our industry,” Goel said. “The addition of our new Portland facility enhances both our daily stock order (DSO) service and next-day emergency order service capabilities.”

The center is equipped with the latest handling, tracking and shipping technology. “Leading edge technology is required,” said Keith Shadrick, senior director, depot operations. “We stock more than 50,000 part numbers at this center alone and more than 600,000 nationwide. When a dealer needs a part to keep a customer running, we need to be able to turn that order around immediately.”

Stewardship considerations were factors in the development as well, and the new Portland Parts Distribution Center building shell and core achieved a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold rating. LEED is a third-party certification program and a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

The company said keeping dealers and the distribution center stocked was a major factor in the selection of the facility’s location. “Whether by boat, truck or plane, it’s about efficient movement of parts. We’re ideally located to service the Pacific Northwest as we are two and one-half miles from the Portland International Airport and 14 miles from the port. Portland becomes the 10th parts distribution center for CNH,” Shadrick said.