Henniges Automotive, a global supplier of highly engineered sealing and anti-vibration systems for the automotive market, has opened a new, scalable 79,500-square-foot (7,391 square-meter) facility in Suzhou, China. The plant is located in the Taicang Port Economic and Technological Development Zone and gives Henniges the ability to grow the facility to double its size to support future business growth.
Customers, Chinese government officials and Henniges executives recently joined together in Suzhou for a grand opening ceremony to officially commemorate the milestone.
“As the automotive industry evolves at an unprecedented pace, having flexibility in our facilities, operations and capabilities is an advantage that makes us more agile and responsive to our customers,” said Larry Williams, president of Henniges Automotive. “In addition to changing industry demands, we’ve seen significant business growth in the Asia-Pacific region, which is why we have strategically designed a facility that meets our customers’ current needs and can grow with them and us.”
This plant will feature both TPV (thermoplastic) and EPDM (traditional) rubber sealing and will have state-of-the-art equipment that meets Henniges’ global standards. A quality management system, which uses an electronic display system integrated with the company’s enterprise resource planning systems to provide instantaneous feedback, will be a key asset at the new plant.
The opening of the facility has created approximately 70 new jobs to-date and is now one of seven manufacturing plants in China, and the company’s first in the Shanghai region. With this addition, Henniges now has 23 facilities worldwide, including five research and development centers and 18 world-class production sites.
“This is an exciting expansion of our global footprint and one that will help us further establish our best practices in global engineering and strengthen our automotive sealing systems capabilities everywhere we do business,” said Williams. “As a company that has provided sealing and anti-vibration technologies for more than 100 years, we pride ourselves on efficiently delivering solutions to our customers and tailoring our products to meet local standards; southern China will be no different.”
In addition to the new facility in Suzhou, Henniges has plans for further expansions in 2018, including a new manufacturing plant in South America and expanding an engineering facility in Europe.
