With the completion of the new 6,000 square meter plant, Baluff’s production area in Chengdu will increase by 75% and production capacity will also double. The facility’s universal design gives experts in sensors and automation the flexibility to adapt the product lines and products that will be manufactured here in the future. Balluff is committed to creating production conditions that provide optimal availability and delivery performance to serve the Asia Pacific market. The new plant was officially opened on July 7.

The opening ceremony of the new plant on July 7, 2023

With the completion of the new 6,000 SQM building, the production area of Balluff Chengdu site has increased by 75%

When planning the new building, it was important for Balluff to ensure that the overall appearance of the entire site met Balluff’s global standards for an optimal working environment. To this end, Balluff also modernized the previous building. In terms of technical infrastructure, Balluff pays special attention to sustainable solutions that save energy. During the construction of the new plant, the logistics area was also replanned: the old production area was connected to the new production area by convenient internal transport routes. The introduction of digital auxiliary system makes the process of three-dimensional warehouse more intelligent and faster. Balluff’s total investment in the project amounts to 50 million yuan (about 6.5 million euros) and provides 300 new jobs. The new building also plans to expand infrastructure for staff, including changing rooms, training rooms and parking Spaces.

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Chengdu since 2007: the office of Balluff Sensor (Chengdu) Co., LTD. On the left is the new building and on the right is the existing building which has been modernized since 2007

Long-term relationship

Balluff extended its olive branch to China from Stuttgart in southern Germany very early on: as early as 1994, Balluff established its first service branch in Shanghai, and from 1996, with the help of external partners, it produced its first sensors in Chengdu. In 2004, Balluff finally set up his own subsidiary in Chengdu and opened his own factory three years later. “Having our own factory gives us a head start. Because at that time it was the first German production company in Chengdu.” Says Frank Nonnenmann, Balluff’s managing director, who is responsible for Balluff’s global production and logistics supply chain. With the completion of the new building, Balluff has also launched its strategic blueprint in China, Nonnenmann explained: “In the long term, China is the largest automated production market in the world, and we believe that the demand for automation will continue to grow steadily for a long time to come. In a market like this, we must and want to be able to live up to our philosophy – to be really close to our customers.” As a corporate employer, Balluff enjoys a good reputation in Chengdu. Erik Oortwijn, General Manager of Balluff Sensors (Chengdu) Co., Ltd. further said, “We have many old employees. The low employee turnover rate is very rare in the Chinese labor market, and it is a testament to the great trust Balluff has earned as an employer.”

Balluff’s second largest production site

The Chengdu plant is one of Balluff’s three production sites, along with two in Vesprem, Hungary, and Aguascalientes, Mexico. Balluff manufactures more than 3.7 million inductive and mechanical sensors annually in Chengdu, as well as linear displacement measurement systems and other products for industrial automation. In the production and logistics supply chain, the Chengdu plant is a regional supplier in the Asia Pacific region and a major production plant for inductive sensors.