A new facility opening in Shanghai on August 1, 2012 will substantially expand EDI’s product and service offerings to customers in China and make possible local manufacture of value-added extrusion die systems, it was announced today by EDI Precision Dies (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. ( EDI China) at Chinaplas 2012 (Booth W2J01).
The 5,000-sq.m facility will replace EDI China’s earlier headquarters, an 1,800 sq.m facility also located in Shanghai, and will include significantly greater production capacity and an expanded technical staff, according to Jason Q. Yin, general manager of EDI China.
“The new Shanghai operation will enable EDI China to offer high-quality film, sheet, and extrusion coating dies designed by EDI engineers in the USA, built right here in China, and sold at competitive prices on short lead times,” said Mr. Yin. “Our customers will have ready access to local EDI China technical sales and support specialists as well as an expanded aftermarket program including remanufacturing, system enhancements, and services such as spare parts and on-site technical support.”
The locally-built dies will range from basic systems to dies with value-added features such as automatic profile control, according to Kelly Harings-Mrozinski, director of marketing. More complex or high-end systems will continue to be designed and manufactured in the USA.
EDI has had a long presence in China as a die supplier, noted Ms. Harings-Mrozinski. “The new EDI China facility will enable us to grow with our customers, meeting their needs as they transition to more sophisticated extrusion systems,” she said. “We already maintain a similar operation in Germany, and our long-range plan is to establish more local facilities in other regions of the world.”
Additional capacity to be installed at the new EDI China facility will include the latest technology in high-speed machining systems and a climate-controlled precision grinding operation, according to Scott G. Smith, EDI’s global aftermarket manager. “We expect to expand our staff to 50 people by the first quarter of 2013,” he said, “including technical sales, field service, quality management, and process engineering specialists.”
Besides dies, the new facility will supply feedblocks and ancillary equipment. Aftermarket services will be available for dies of all types, whether built in Shanghai or at EDI’s world headquarters in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, USA.