The Weir Group has officially opened its new foundry in Xuzhou, China. The foundry, which is part of Weir's ESCO global foundry network, expands capacity for the manufacture of ESCO® ground engaging tools, or GET, in line with continued growth opportunities. The opening ceremony, hosted by Weir's CEO Jon Stanton, was attended by a Senior Leadership Team from Xuzhou Hi-Tech Industry Zone and other members of Weir and its ESCO division from China and across the globe.

Occupying a 16.5-acre site in Xuzhou's High-Tech Industrial Zone, the new foundry features the very latest technology and equipment, incorporating high levels of automation. These enable to optimise capacity and enhance foundry processes, improving efficiency and further reducing cost of manufacture, aligned with the goals of Performance Excellence transformation programme. It strengthens global foundry network, ensuring remain highly responsive to customers' needs.

The new foundry represents a $60m investment and will replace existing foundry that is located close by. Staying in Xuzhou allows to capitalise on culture of continuous improvement and sustainability, resulting in consistently high performance in process control, safety, employee engagement and on time delivery. The company are pleased to retain highly skilled and loyal workforce - many of whom have been with since began foundry operations in Xuzhou in 2006.

The new foundry has been designed to produce a wider range of proprietary GET products, including larger sized components, enabling the manufacture of more product types in a more cost-effective way. It expands foundry capacity in China by over 30% and provides additional flexibility across global network to best serve customers around the world.