TOKYO (Feb. 24, 2010)—Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is set to launch production of tire machinery in China with the establishment of a wholly owned subsidiary, Changshu Ryoju Machinery Co., Ltd. in Changshu, Jiangsu.
The unit is due on stream in March, with deliveries beginning this summer.
The company will start operations with 64 employees. Minoru Kimura has been appointed general manager.
The unit is valued at $4.9 million. MHI has had a small workshop there for some time, but has now expanded it following the acquisition of a plant building with a 54,000-sq.-ft. floor space within the Changshu Southeast Economic Development Zone.
Initially the China plant will assemble kits of parts received from MHI's Industrial Machinery Business, Technology & Solutions Division in Hiroshima, Japan, and the company intends to develop and cultivate local suppliers, and eventually will manufacture parts at the plant.
Plans call for manufacture of 40 units in the initial business year, increasing to about 160 units within three years.