Some of the world’s leading names in textile machinery manufacturing are developing massive factories in China.
Winterthur, Switzerland-based Rieter Group, one of the world’s leading spinning machinery builders, recently inaugurated the first part of its new production plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu province. In the 1990s Rieter established a presence in China with a joint-venture assembly plant and in 2000 opened its own production plant in Changzhou.
Completion of the second Changzhou plant is scheduled for the end of 2013. Rieter says the new plant will enable it to better meet customer needs in China.
Rieter operates 18 manufacturing locations in nine countries and employs a global work force of about 4,700, 28 percent of whom are based in Switzerland. Earlier this year, the company consolidated all of its Switzerland manufacturing into its Winterthur site.
Another Swiss multinational firm specializing in textile machinery is Pfaffikon-based Oerlikon, which recently consolidated its eight offices in Shanghai into one facility. The Shanghai operation will be the global headquarters for Oerlikon Textile, the largest segment of the company’s business.
“China has become Oerlikon’s most important market,” said Michael Buscher, Oerlikon’s global CEO. “The opening of our new Chinese headquarters marks another milestone in the group’s successful expansion strategy in Asia and is designed to spur further growth in the country.”
Fong’s Industries Group, which has two divisions specializing in dyeing and finishing machinery, is building a huge factory in the Zhongshan Torch Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone in Linhai Industrial Park. The company has released few details about the project, but describes it as “the textile machinery factory of the future.”