Venice, Italy-based Piovan Group is building a 32,800-square-foot facility in Suzhou, China, to produce automation systems for the plastics, food powders and refrigeration markets.
Founded in 1934 as a mechanical engineering company, Piovan entered the plastics industry in 1964 as an auxiliary equipment manufacturer. The group has nine production facilities in Italy, Germany, Brazil and the United States in addition to China, as well as 33 subsidiaries.
Piovan’s products have been on the Chinese market for more than 20 years. The company opened an office in Hong Kong in 2000 followed by a production plant was in 2005 in Zhuhai, in Guangdong province, and then a facility in Suzhou in 2008.
The decision to invest again in Suzhou follows a years-long strategy of “investing in the development of an international and structured network with direct branches to always be alongside its customers around the world, from sales to after-sales service,” according to a company news release.
“It will have offices, technological laboratories for testing, showrooms, warehouses, a production area designed according to lean methodologies and — very important — the new R&D department dedicated to the development of innovative technologies,” Flavio Zaghini, Piovan China’s general manager, said in the release.
The new site in Suzhou also will be headquarters for the group’s branches in Asia, including Piovan Thailand in Bangkok, Piovan Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City, Piovan Japan in Kobe, and ToBa PNC in Seoul, South Korea.
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