NEW JOINT VENTURE IN CHINA

Edscha goes East

Anhui Edscha Automotive Parts Co. Ltd. (AEA) is the Hinge Systems divi- sion’s response to the booming Chinese automotive market.

Since mid-June, Edscha AG has been running a second joint production ven-

Chinese employees at AEA familiarize them-

selves with Edscha products

ture (50:50) with AEA in Hefei in Anhui province. Shanghai Edscha Machinery Co. Ltd. (SEM), the first joint venture of the Group in China, has grown so fast since it was founded in 1994 that it will soon reach the limits of its capacity. At present, SEM produces easily six million hinges and door checks annually, thus serving around 30 percent of the Chinese market for passenger car hinge systems. With the new joint venture this market share passes the 50 percent mark.

AEA is located around 450 kilometers west of Shanghai in the vicinity of major automobile plants. Under the name Jiang Nan, the factory previously was one of the principal competitors in the regional market for door hinges and was not privatized until early 2003. The technological strength and worldwide presence of the Edscha Group persuaded the new owners to serve the Chi-

nese market jointly with Edscha in fu- ture. AEA currently supplies almost five million hinges and door checks annu- ally, mainly to Volkswagen and General Motors.

Processes and product quality will soon reach Edscha standard, and output and sales will thereafter grow by at least 20 percent annually. AEA will then also supply other Asian markets, including the Japanese joint development and sales venture Edscha-Ohi Co., Ltd., in Yokohama, launched in January 2003. In the medium term, AEA will additionally manufacture pedal boxes and parking brakes for the Driver Controls division.

The Edscha Hinge Systems business division, producer of some 250 million hinges annually, with 19 production facilities in 13 countries, is the world’s leading supplier of hinges to the automobile industry.

MECHATRONICS CENTERJAPAN

Live wires

Edscha-Ohi growing

Electric drives and electronic controls for mechanical components are the basis of most automotive innovations – including rear lids, parking brakes and convertible roof systems. In Remscheid, Edscha is therefore about to set up a Mechatronics Center in the still-young business year 20032004. The Center is to serve as interface between the Hinge Systems, Convertible Roof Systems and Driver Controls divisions, to the electrics and electronics experts at IVM Automotive, and not least to suppliers and customers. Its tasks are to test motors, gears or electronic components and to qualify them for Edscha applications, to integrate them with mechanical components into fully functional units, to initiate and support cooperation with specialists, and to monitor

customer projects. To accomplish these tasks, the Mechatronics Center will have full access to the Edscha Group’s testing stations for entire vehi- cles, special measuring equipment, and test benches for components.

The joint venture of the Edscha Group established in January 2003 in the Japanese city of Yokohama is developing at a rapid pace. Though initially the joint venture with the local hinge manufacturer Ohi Seisakusho Co., Ltd., only targeted the development and sale of hinge systems, as of 1 July, Edscha- Ohi Co., Ltd., has appreciably widened its scope of business: now it also looks after the interests of the Convertible Roof Systems and Driver Controls divisions in Japan – this is the first step by these divisions into the world’s third largest car manufacturing country. The workforce of the joint venture is growing to keep pace with the tasks: Edscha-Ohi currently

employs eight people; in the business year

20032004 which has just commenced it is planned to take on another three employees in Sales, Design and Quality Assurance.

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