More investment in China for Husky
By Canadian Packaging Staff
General acquisition China Greenfield hot runner technology Husky Husky Injection Molding Systems injection molding international investments by Canadian companies land acquisition manufacturing facility Plastic PlasticsAgreement to purchase land for a new manufacturing facility will help Husky meet demands of customers in region.
Husky Injection Molding Systems, headquartered in Bolton, Ont., has announced it is continuing its investments in China with plans to build a new manufacturing facility in the region of Suzhou.
Husky is a leading global supplier of injection molding equipment and services to the plastics industry with over 40 service and sales offices, supporting customers in over 100 countries. Its manufacturing facilities are located in Canada, the United States, Luxembourg, Austria and China.
According to Husky, these ongoing investments will enable it to improve local support, reduce lead times and more responsively react to the needs of its rapidly growing customer base in the region.
“Husky has enjoyed long-standing relationships with many customers throughout China. Strong increase in demand for plastics in the region has helped fuel customer growth and we have been fortunate enough to grow with our customers. Today, Asia Pacific represents one of the largest and most dynamic markets the company serves,” says Husky president and chief executive officer John Galt.
“Our investment in Suzhou is a step toward ensuring we are able to meet the growing expectations of customers in this region. Our goal is to be increasingly nimble and agile to provide the best, most responsive service and support—not only to China, but to markets globally.”
The latest Husky investment in China involves an agreement with local government in Suzhou to purchase 53,000-squaremeters of land in the Suzhou New District and is a Greenfield site that has significant opportunity for further expansion beyond the existing land area.
The plan is to then construct a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that will increase local capacity, improve customer support and shorten lead times.
The site is expected to be fully operational in 2014 and will add to the company’s already strong presence in China.
Working with the industry’s largest service and sales network, Husky is continuously investing in its global infrastructure to meet customers’ specific needs. Over the past several years, Husky has strengthened its presence and supply chain capabilities in China.
Since first establishing a presence in 2004, Husky has more than doubled its footprint in the region and has more than tripled its regional workforce.
The new Suzhou facility will complement Husky’s existing facilities, most notably the Shanghai Technical Center, which is its Asia-Pacific headquarters. The Shanghai location has also doubled its footprint since 2004, expanding in 2006 and again in 2009, while it continues to be a central hub for the region, responsible for service and sales, development engineering, human resources, finance, machine assembly and hot runner manufacturing.
To accommodate growing hot runner business in the region, Husky has also made recent investments in hot runner refurbishing, hot runner manufacturing and mold conversion capacity. Hot runners (see photo above) are a key technology in the injection molding process that has a direct impact on profitability and part quality. A key focus of these initiatives in China is to continue to reduce lead times and improve responsiveness, supporting the company’s overall strategy to serve customers in the region more effectively.
For more information on Husky, visit www.husky.ca.
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