Suzhou, 15 July 2022 – SW, the world’s leading supplier of multi-spindle machining center solutions and intelligent production lines, held a groundbreaking ceremony in Suzhou Industrial Park for its SW Asia Headquarter Phase II and R&D center. The new factory, not only double in size, but also upgrade its functions, will be the largest overseas R&D and manufacturing base of SW Group together with the phase I factory after the completion, which is planned at the end of 2022. More than 30 people, including Mr. Norbert Wiest, General Manager of SW Asia Co., Ltd, Mr. Wang Liming, executive deputy director of China Machine Tool and Tool Builders’ Association, representatives from VDW and VDMA, leaders of Suzhou Industrial Park and customer representatives attended this ground breaking ceremony and witnessed the new era of development of SW China.

Spatenstich Suzhou

SW Suzhou factory Phase I was put into operation in 2016, covering an area of 25 mu, and has been equipped with services as assembly and turnkey solutions, with an annual capacity of 100 units, and can provide customers with pre-sales process solutions, fixture and tool design, automation, after-sales support, spare parts and many other services. As SW is recognized by more and more customers and the order volume is growing rapidly, the Phase I factory can no longer meet the current market demands. At the same time, the drastic shortening of delivery time requirements and the fast-changing market are calling for faster response capabilities. Therefore, SW decided to invest in the construction of the Phase II factory, which covers an area of 30 mu and can achieve an annual production capacity of about 350 units upon completion, and set up a new R&D center, the base for developing the Southeast Asia market.

Due to coronavirus, the top management of SW Group was not able to attend onsite. Instead they send some greetings with video message. Mr. Markus Schmolz – Managing Director of Finance and Mr. Stefan Weber – Managing Director of Production and Technology of SW Group said: China has already been the most important market for SW Group. The rapid reaction and the strong measures taken by the Chinese government during the epidemic have given us huge safety and  great confidence to increase the investment and expand production. At the same time, we feel more and more strongly that China is developing at a much faster pace than Germany in innovative application scenarios such as new energy vehicles. Over the past few years, SW China team has brought many new ideas to the German R&D center by digging deeper into the needs of local customers to speed up the development of new products that meet the needs of Chinese customers, meanwhile contribute to the R&D process of the entire Group . This is the reason we want to invest in the second phase and build up R&D center, because we see the trend of the Chinese customers’ requests are now benefiting Germany in return. We are confident that the future of SW China is in good hands.”

SW has been deeply rooted in China for 12 years from 2010 to 2022. Mr. Norbert Wiest, General Manager of SW Asia Co., Ltd. said in his speech: “The rapid growth of the Chinese market is the key factor to drive the growth of SW China. In addition to the diverse application in automotive industry, SW also tapped into the hot market of NEV and achieved good results in medium and large size of structural parts like subframe, E-motor housing, won the recognition of many leading domestic NEV companies like Great Wall. SW has also established a special business development division for non-automotive industries, and is gradually expanding our multi-spindle and high-efficiency technology to other areas with strong demand for industrial upgrading, such as hydraulics, gearbox, aviation and medical. At the same time, SW has built up a strong technical team in China, with more than one third of our total employees being technical. Particularly SW is well-recognized by the customer and industry for our product application and process design capabilities. Such achievements are what strengthened SW’s determination to invest more resources in China and bring greater value to domestic users.”

“The phase II factory, especially the establishment of the R&D center, is also a necessary move to meet the growing needs of our customers.” Mr. Thomas Fontaine, Applied Technology Director of SW Asia Co., Ltd. introduced, “The transition to smart manufacturing and digital production has shown more confidence in China’s manufacturing industries than any other regions, and we see the next growth potential here. At present,  for the automation side, SW has set up a team of 25 people from pre-design to post-assembly and after-sales service, which can provide turnkey services such as loading and unloading automation, integrated automation, assembly line, and even whole production line and digital management based on customers’ needs. The establishment of the R&D center helps us further strengthen SW as a technical expert, making it possible to provide independent design services for machining centers, which are truly customized, intelligent and localized. In helping users’ new demands for intelligent development, SW is well prepared!”

Wang Liming, executive deputy director of China Machine Tool & Tool Builders’ Association, expressed his affirmation of SW’s initiative. He believed that China’s manufacturing industries are undergoing a profound structural adjustment, the epidemic and the national double carbon strategy have also pressed the acceleration button for the intelligent transformation of enterprises. Leading companies as SW will bring excellent solutions to more Chinese manufacturing companies, which will play a positive role in promoting the rapid development of the whole machine tool industry.

Mr. Jiang Weiming, chairman of SIP investment promotion committee, a representative of the local government, said that in the post-epidemic era, SW is firmly rooted in China and invested in China, which can be described as far-sighted and based on long-term. In recent years, Suzhou has insisted on “Smart Reform, Digital Transformation” as the hand to accelerate the development of industrial economy and continuously help enterprises to improve quality and increase efficiency, while SW’s cutting-edge automation technology and equipment perfectly meet the current needs and are the driving force to empower the high-quality development of domestic industrial enterprises.

From products to services to customized solutions, SW continues to innovate and contribute, from phase I factory put into production, to the service department covering the whole region, to the phase II factory and the independent R&D center in the planning. SW is reaching out to customers step by step in China to meet future challenges, cooperate with all parties and mobilize all resources. SW will always strive to be a reliable and trustworthy partner of customers!