Endress+Hauser has opened a new production facility for flowmeters near Shanghai, China.
Endress+Hauser has opened a new production facility for flowmeters near Shanghai, China. New plant in Suzhou employs 20 people to manufacture the devices. Production is expected to expand step by step as the company continues its move into this important market. Klaus Endress, group CEO, says the launch will benefit the company’s European facilities as well.
The 2,500 sq m plant started up in December 2003 and has employed 20, all Chinese citizens, since June. The plant is purpose-built for flowmeter production. “We have to be close to our customers on the Chinese market in order to expand business,” says Dr. Gerhard Jost, director of Endress+Hauser Flowtec AG. “China’s domestic market is huge. Now that we are producing our meters close to the market, our customers will notice how much more quickly we can deliver,” he notes.
Endress+Hauser’s new facility in Suzhou, China (left), employs 20 people. E+H expects to increase production as it continues to move into this market. The company invested approximately EUR 4 million in the plant, which manufacturers flowmeters now and hopes to expand.
The company invested approximately EUR 4 million in the plant. “China is a country with enormous potential for the future,” continued Endress. “This is why we have leased much more ground for the premises we’ll need in the future besides this factory that we’ve already built.” The group anticipates the new plant will be manufacturing instruments for Endress+Hauser GmbH+Co. KG and Endress+Hauser Conducta GmbH+Co. KG in 2005. The first specializes in level and pressure measurement; the latter concentrates on analytical metrology.
Suzhou is in southeast China in the province of Jiangsu and is one of the country’s boomtowns. It was designated a special economic zone in 1985 and now has 1.1-million residents. Suzhou boasts a good transportation infrastructure, located an hour by car from Shanghai’s international airport and directly on the main Shanghai-Nanjing railway. Other major companies that have set up production facilities there include Infineon, Adidas, Philips, Nokia, Samsung, and L’Oreal.
—Jeanine Katzel, senior editor, Control Engineering, [email protected]
