The Weir Group has officially opened its new foundry in Xuzhou, China, expanding capacity for the manufacture of ESCO® ground engaging tools (GET) in line with continued growth opportunities.
The foundry, which is part of Weir’s ESCO global foundry network, celebrated the breaking of ground back in July 2022.
The opening ceremony, hosted by Weir’s CEO, Jon Stanton, was attended by a Senior Leadership Team from Xuzhou Hi-Tech Industry Zone and other members of Weir and its ESCO division from China and across the globe.
Occupying a 16.5-acre (6.7-ha) site in Xuzhou’s High-Tech Industrial Zone, the new foundry features the very latest technology and equipment, incorporating high levels of automation, the company says. These enable Weir to optimise capacity and enhance its foundry processes, improving efficiency and further reducing cost of manufacture, aligned with the goals of Weir’s Performance Excellence transformation program. The company added: “It strengthens our global foundry network, ensuring we remain highly responsive to customers’ needs.”
The new foundry represents a $60 million investment and will replace the existing foundry that is located close by. Staying in Xuzhou allows Weir to, it says, capitalise on its culture of continuous improvement and sustainability, resulting in consistently high performance in process control, safety, employee engagement and on-time delivery.
The new foundry has been designed to produce a wider range of our proprietary GET products, including larger sized components, enabling the manufacture of more product types in a more cost-effective way, according to Weir. It expands the company’s foundry capacity in China by over 30% and provides additional flexibility across its global network to best serve customers around the world.
Stanton said: “The opening of our new foundry in Xuzhou is a significant strategic milestone for Weir. I’d like to congratulate our project team in Xuzhou who have designed and built what we expect to be the safest, most efficient, most sustainable, most advanced foundry within our global network. I’d also like to thank our partners throughout the Xuzhou Government for their time and experience to help deliver this important project.
“This investment demonstrates our commitment to long-term presence and economic contribution in Xuzhou, ensuring Weir drives further efficiency and sustainability in our operations while supporting our continued growth as supplier of premium mining GET technology to customers worldwide.”