Kubota Manufacturing of America Success Story

Back to all Success Stories

Agricultural Machinery Manufacturer Strengthens Continuous Improvement and Quality Management

Kubota Manufacturing of America (KMA), a subsidiary of Kubota Corporation, manufactures sub-compact tractors, utility vehicles, and zero-turn mowers. Founded in Japan in 1890, Kubota Corporation (then known as Ohde Casting) produced cast iron pipes to help combat infectious diseases and modernize water infrastructure. In the 1940s, they expanded into agricultural machinery and established KMA in Georgia in 1988. Since then, KMA has grown to three campuses in Gainesville, Gateway, and Jefferson, totaling 3.2 million square feet of distribution, manufacturing, and research and development space.

Today, KMA employs approximately 3,000 people and produces more than 200,000 units annually. They value continuous improvement across their organization and maintain ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications. In 2026, they became a finalist in the Manufacturing Leadership Awards “Operational Excellence” category and in 2024, they received the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Excellence in Manufacturing Training Award.

Worker in a blue shirt and red cap operating an orange tractor on a factory production line with yellow safety rails behind him

Situation

For decades, KMA has partnered with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech on various projects, including ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 internal audits to maintain their certifications and strengthen their systems. Over the past several years, Kelly Grissom, GaMEP energy and sustainability project manager, has led the ISO 9001 internal audits. The three-day assessment includes employee interviews and documentation and process reviews across human resources, information technology, manufacturing operations, and quality management.

Rather than viewing the internal audit as a compliance requirement, KMA embraces the process as an opportunity to advance their culture of continuous improvement — a philosophy deeply rooted in their company history according to Sam Emery, KMA director of quality.

“Continuous improvement has always been part of our culture, originating from improving quality of life through clean water,” said Emery. “Whether we improve our people, processes, or products, we always look for ways to do better.”

Solution

Standardizing Quality Management Systems

Several audit observations highlighted how KMA has managed their data and documentation through various digital and physical systems and software platforms.

KMA began investing in a new enterprise quality management software and standardizing information. The software will help centralize and digitize corrective and preventive actions, internal policies, quality initiatives, and risk management, improving integration and visibility across the organization.

“The internal audits help highlight gaps in our system and improvement opportunities,” said Emery. “This new software will help us better analyze data, find information, manage actions, and understand our quality performance.”

Improving Defect Detection and Prevention

Another finding prompted KMA to re-evaluate their customer warranty metric, which limited their ability to quickly identify and address quality concerns.

KMA implemented a quality defect process that inspects one out of every 50 units and tracks defects per unit (DPU). This approach has encouraged employee collaboration and communication, identified issues earlier in the production process, and enabled corrective actions before defects reach customers.

“By the time we receive a warranty claim, we could have built that product months ago,” said Emery. “Sampling provides faster feedback, helping our manufacturing and quality teams work together to address issues before they reach the customer.”

Enhancing Product Verification Accuracy

Another observation identified recurring return goods authorizations (RGAs) caused by mislabeled products, particularly among similar attachments and equipment that KMA employees found difficult to distinguish.

KMA deployed advanced camera and image-recognition technology to recognize product characteristics and labels. The technology simplified product verification for employees while reducing incorrect product labeling.

“Rather than retrain employees for a difficult task prone to human error, we found a technological solution,” said Emery. “It simplified the process and significantly reduced the number of mislabeled products.”

Results

By implementing improvements identified through the ISO 9001 audit process, KMA has:

  • Invested approximately $100,000 in a quality management software platform
  • Implemented a quality defect process, reducing DPU from 2.3 to 1.4
  • Deployed camera-based product verification technology across three campuses, reducing RGAs by 50%

Testimonial

“GaMEP conducting our internal audits provides a valuable outside perspective and helps us identify opportunities for improvement. Their observations have helped us enhance and manage quality performance, strengthen team collaboration and communication, and support our goals of continuously improving our people, processes, and products.”

– Sam Emery, Director of Quality, Kubota Manufacturing of America