Hyundai Elevator Breaks Ground For New Shanghai Plant

South Korea’s Hyundai Elevator Co. has broken ground for a new plant in Shanghai that is expected to help the company expand its presence in China, with a significant ramp-up in its annual production capacity in the world’s largest elevator market.

The Korean company said on Wednesday it embarked on the construction of a new elevator plant on a 123,564 square-meter site in Jinshan Industrial Park, Shanghai. The new plant, which would cost the company 120 billion won ($112.5 million) to build, is expected to produce 25,000 units of elevator per year, bumping up the firm’s local capacity by more than threefold from 7,000.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. would be in charge of the construction, which is set to be completed in late 2019.

The plant would consist of a smart factory mounted with the latest technologies such as machine learning and internet of things as well as a 175-meter-tall tower capable of testing 14 elevators. Other facilities include a research and development center and a control unit to monitor elevator operations in real-time.

“The new Shanghai plant would ensure quality management through big data analysis and allow us to respond swiftly to customer demands by monitoring the entire process from order to delivery,” said a company official.

Hyundai Elevator said the new plant would help the company further penetrate the Chinese market. China accounts for about 70 percent of the world’s elevator market, with an estimated 4 million elevators currently in operation. The Korean company sees a huge opportunity as there is growing local demand to replace old elevators with new ones.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Hyundai Group Chairman Hyun Jeong-eun, Hyundai Elevator Chief Executive Jang Byung-woo and local governmental officials.

Shares of Hyundai Elevator closed Wednesday up 2.56 percent at 80,000 won.

Source: pulsenews.co.kr