Rigida/Weinmann Expanding in China
As the largest rim producer in the world Rigida/Weinmann is expanding in particular in China. The company recently decided to go directly for phase 2 of its new factory at the commercial zone that includes a harbour in Guizhou, about 100 kilometers from Shenzhen.
As the largest rim producer in the world Rigida/Weinmann is expanding in particular in China. The company recently decided to go directly for phase 2 of its new factory at the commercial zone that includes a harbour in Guizhou, about 100 kilometers from Shenzhen. Numerous bicycle manufacturers are located in this region.
At this year's Shanghai Show Rigida/Weinmann announced that it is constructing that new Chinese factory. Phase 1 of the construction will become operational end of December while phase 2 is now earlier than expected being constructed. Rigida/Weinmann Guizhou plant is replacing the one in Shenzhen. The company acquired a 32,000 square meter site for the new factory of Rigida Group subsidiary Weinmann. Over 14,000 square meters of that plot will be used for the factory, offices, dormitories and other staff facilities. The capacity of the new factory is over 4 million rims a year.
According to Rigida Group CEO Jan-Willem Ten Dam: "One of the main reasons for the investment in this new factory is that our current facility is too small. Our customers urged us to make this step because of a lack of production capacity in our current facility. As well as higher output, the new factory will bring a big improvement in logistics. Also we will start our new wheelbuilding activities there," explained Ten Dam. Rigida/Weinmann plans to produce 400,000 wheelsets annually in Guizhou. The new factory will have a workforce of about 60 people including temporary employees. Holland Mechanics equipment will be installed.
End of September Rigida Group announced to terminate all activities of Rigida France at Noyon. This decision was spurred by the long time difficult market circumstances in France. At this announcement the company also said its decision had no consequences for the other companies of the Rigida Group. Those other companies include two facilities in Asia (next to the new one in Guizhou).
In Kunshan Rigida/Weinmann is operating a facility that was opened 4 years ago. Here 40 regular and 15 temps are working. In Port Klang, Malaysia is another rim making facility with 25 regular workers while Rigida Group in Europe is operating in two facilities. They are located in Toszeg, Hungary which is a relatively small facility. Rigida Group's main European facility (and HQ) is in Boxmeer, The Netherlands where about 60 people are employed. All Rigida/Weinman facilities are producing single as well as double wall alloy rims while the facility in The Netherlands is also capable to produce steel and stainless steel rims. The Rigida Group policy is to improve continuously their product quality, to develop more efficient production machinery and to be very creative in product development.
New wheels and rims have been developed under the new high end brand called Ryde. Lightweight MTB, X-Country rims like the Edge 7 are being made of a special alloy material. The result of a continuously search for new products is a light attractive disc rim. The weight of the Edge 7 is about 371 gr. Attractive new wheels for racing, training, cross country and downhill, such as Blade RS 1, Beasty HR2 and Beasty HR1 can be found on the web site of Ryde : www.ryde-racing.com
Published by Bike Europe on 28 Dec 2009
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