Trelleborg to enhance production efficiency with series of relocations

TRELLEBORG, Sweden—Trelleborg A.B. has carried out a series of relocation moves as part of a group-wide drive to enhance its operational efficiency worldwide.

Measures have included the July closure of Trelleborg's marine products facility in Rederkirk, the Netherlands.

Production has been transferred from the Dutch site to "more cost-effective" facilities in Qingdao, China, and in Singapore, Trelleborg said in an Oct. 30 written statement to European Rubber Journal. The group will, however, retain its sales and engineering "center of excellence" for its "Infra product lines" in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Furthermore, Trelleborg has opened an antivibration products/systems facility in Suzhou, China, relocating production from an older unit in nearby Wuxi.

The new factory, which produces antivibration solutions for industrial equipment, rail and renewable energy applications, opened in August, though "formal inauguration will take place later."

In addition, the Swedish group opened a new automotive boots manufacturing facility in Carquefou, outside the French city of Nantes in late September.

The site also includes an engineering center that develop new products—including for future mobility—for all Trelleborg boot sites globally.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Trelleborg President and CEO Peter Nilsson said: "Our expansion of new manufacturing facilities continues, particularly in Asia where we see favorable prospects for further growth."

These also include the construction of two previously announced facilities in Vietnam and Japan and a two-fold increase in capacity for Trelleborg Sealing Solutions in India, Nilsson said in an Oct. 26 third-quarter presentation.