Major steps for Jintan
While many employees from other KAMAX sites were able to help out when the first Chinese plant was established in Wujin, the set-up of production in Jintan is only possible without on-site support due to the pandemic. But the local team is overcoming all the difficulties and growing in confidence daily to carry out the program in an intense and orderly manner for the opening of the plant in the Sino German Innovation Park in Changzhou (China) expanding the fasteners’ product range to include also precision formed parts and will set an example in sustainable development, environmental protection and carbon emission both locally and worldwide.
The total land area of the new plant in Jintan is 38,912 m² (more than 5 football fields), with a total construction area of 26,313 m². Its designed capacity is 20,400 tons of automotive fasteners and 3,600 tons of precision molded parts per year, which will also expand the production capacity of KAMAX China (our capacity worldwide is about 200,000 tons). We hope that we can take a more active position in this constantly changing market and meet the demands of diverse customers better. Furthermore, we will make our production more flexible and efficient.
Trial production in MAY
Currently the new plant is advancing at a very good pace. After the first concrete was poured, we had finished roads, Heat Treatment bases and set the foundation pads by the end of September 2021 and continued with the steel structure and the main office building. In January 2022, the site received the furnaces, matching the timeline of the project plan. In February, three weeks ahead of schedule, all equipment was unpacked and positioned by the KAMAX China team. This was highly appreciated, considering that T&E personnel were unable to travel due to COVID restrictions.
Next steps are five new pieces of equipment for Jintan, and another ten transferred from Wujin. In addition, two surface treatment lines with special focus on GEOMET Coating has arrived as from March and are to be certified by July. The trial production is already planned in May with mass production starting in August, if no problem at inspection occurs.
Transferring employees
Personnel planning is also on the same level of importance. 14 new employees have been hired by the end of February. The Jintan plant is only 18 km away from Wujin, and as it is newly developed, there is a shortage of talents. Taking into account that some personnel needs to move along with the equipment, we are planning to transfer a total of 49 Wujin employees to the new plant between April and September – 38 shop-floor employees and 11 office staff.
It is highly expected that the new plant will be up and running at the end of the second quarter, while at full capacity in the fourth quartal of 2022. Thanks for the close cooperation of the team, which makes such a breakthrough and development possible.
KXpress
