By Cameron Chai
The Metal technology business of Siemens has launched an engineering and production centre by investing $80 million, covering an area of 9,000 m² to expand its production and research and development for the steel processing production chain. In this centre around 450 local engineers will focus on modernising its services and developing plant components for international and local businesses.
Siemens provides support to local steel manufacturers who are looking to upgrade their steel plants. While the average life span of a steel plant is 40 years, more than 100 Chinese companies have plants that are above ten years. According to Jan Leuder who takes care of the Chinese metal business for Siemens in China, the R&D centre will also focus on transferring technological expertise for the development of cost effective and reliable products that are easy to maintain. Strengthening the local value chain enables companies to manufacture and develop products according to the needs of the customer.
The demand for steel products and the need for steel plants have been steadily on the rise since the recovery from economic recession in 2010. At the same time, the steel industry is facing many challenges in the form of tighter environmental regulations and increasing prices of raw materials and energy. Hence it is imperative to modernize existing steel plants to achieve optimal production and profits.
Source: http://www.siemens.com