FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany (BRAIN)—SRAM plans to break ground in the coming weeks on its second factory in China with a target to have the plant running within 12 to 15 months. The factory is near Kunshan, home to the mainland China factories for Taiwan’s two biggest frame manufacturers, Giant and Merida. That proximity is appealing to SRAM, which also operates a factory near Guangzhou, and two factories near Taichung, Taiwan’s manufacturing heart.
As the supplier base evolves in and around Kunshan, it’s important for SRAM to support the Taiwan industry, said Stan Day, SRAM’s president. “If you look at what has been created in Taichung, it’s really powerful,” Day said. “There are the primary companies and you look at the tier 3 suppliers that have grown up around that. Being part of that is very important.”
The new factory will produce entry-level suspension, mechanical disc brakes and X3 and X4 components. It will also become a base to manufacture parts for the domestic Chinese market as consumer demand grows there for performance level bikes.
