Conair Expands Chinese Manufacturing With New Facility
New building covers 4500-m2 (48,000-m2) and will allow Conair to combine manufacturing and offices into one facility down the street from its former site.
Conair had manufactured products in the Minhang district of Shanghai since 2011 from a 1600-m2 (17,225-m2) operation, with sales, marketing and administrative staff in another office. The company moved into the new building, which is still in the Minhang District, in December 2014 and has been renovating it since that time.
At Chinaplas 2015 in Guangzhou, Vivi Qin of Conair’s China operation said office space in the new building is located on the second floor with manufacturing on the ground floor. At this time, the company is still adding employees in production and office roles, according to Qin.
In a release, Conair noted that the expansion will not only allow it to expand capacity, but also separate heavy manufacturing from assembly, testing and demonstration. Conair has been active in the Asia Pacific region since 1987, with activities in China since 2001. It began manufacturing in the country in Shanghai in 2007. At this time, equipment built in China by Conair for the Asian market includes: mobile drying/conveying system, volumetric feeders, and other material handling equipment. More recently, the company began local work on larger dryers and mold-space dehumidifying units.
Conair currently employs about 45 individuals in China and anticipates another 10 being added in the near future, including on its engineering team, which was behind the creation of the locally targeted product, the mold-space dehumidifying unit. Among the Conair equipment displayed at its booth and at partner booths in operation was the new MicroWheel desiccant dryer, making its China debut.
