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Further expansion of business in Asia - Dürr dedicates new plant on 20th anniversary in China

10/21/2005

Twenty years ago, Dürr was one of the first German engineering firms to venture into the future market of China. Marking the anniversary of that move, the Group has today dedicated a new plant near Shanghai, to continue its expansion in China and other Asian markets. "The new plant is an important base for further business expansion. Asia is becoming more and more important as a market, which is why we are investing here," said Dr. Heinz Dürr, Chairman of Dürr AG's Supervisory Board, at the opening ceremony in Quingpu.

In the new plant, about 60 employees produce modules for automotive paint shops and final assembly lines as well as products in the areas of conveyor, environmental, and energy technology. About 4,000 square meters of factory floor space accommodate state-of-the-art production systems designed to meet the highest quality standards. The capacities have been fully utilized right from the start. At present, Dürr is producing in Quingpu for various system orders from international automotive joint ventures and for orders from Chinese manufacturers and their suppliers.

More cost-effective and faster More cost-effective and faster

The new plant will enable Dürr not only to produce more cost effectively and deliver faster, but also to increase the local content of its equipment produced in China. That is an important plus in relations with the Chinese market. "We are also using the additional capacity as a basis for expanding business in neighboring regions," said Reiner Schmid, Managing Director of Dürr in China. The Quingpu plant is already making deliveries today for orders being processed by Dürr in Australia. The international division of labor is an essential component of FOCUS, the group-wide improvement program that Dürr set in motion last August.

Number of employees up significantly

As an equipment supplier to the automotive industry, Dürr is taking leading positions in the rapidly growing Chinese market. Dürr got started in China in 1985 in order to build a paint shop for Volkswagen. Today, its customers include all the major automotive joint ventures and Chinese manufacturers. Dürr Paintshop Systems Engineering Co. Ltd., Shanghai, to which the Quingpu plant belongs, has about 135 employees. About another 300 employees work under the Schenck brand in Dürr's measuring technology operations. Schenck has also been directly represented in China since 1985. Dürr has, for example, a strong position in balancing technology by way of Schenck Shanghai Machinery Corp. (SSM). SSM not only supplies customers in China, but also produces for the world market. Last year alone, Dürr increased the number of its employees in the promising Chinese market by 45%. In 2004, the Chinese market already accounted for 10% of group sales revenue.

The Dürr Group is one of the world's leading suppliers of production systems and of modules and components in the areas of measuring and process technology. The company focuses on its core business in the areas of paint systems, with emphases in robots and application technology, final assembly and automation systems, and environmental and mechanical engineering. Its main customer areas are the automobile sector and its suppliers and industry at large. Dürr achieved sales revenue of € 1.9 billion with about 7,300 employees in 2004.