German lithium-ion battery developer and producer BMZ is relocating its China operations in Shenzhen to new premises in the city as it expands operations.
The group’s 100%-owned BMZ China subsidiary is investing around EUR7 million ($8.5m) in the new, 35,000 square metre facility— which is three times the size of the current plant, BBB has confirmed.
A BMZ spokesperson said the bigger, 12-storey site, just four kilometres from the existing plant, would allow the group to “release its growth potential” over the next five years.
The number of production lines “with a higher degree of automation will gradually be doubled, over the medium term, to around 36 lines”, the company confirmed. The existing production lines will moved gradually and production “will be maintained transitionally” in parallel at both sites.
The new building will comprise offices, areas for production and storage and laboratories, but BMZ has not said when the transfer will be complete.
However, a spokesperson said the proximity of the new site means BMZ China will “continue to benefit from the favourable international manufacturing and trading environment of Shenzhen”.
BMZ China specialises in the manufacture of lithium-ion battery packs, chargers, BMS and related electronic parts— supplying Europe, America and Asia Pacific regions in common with the whole group.
A new management team took over at BMZ China in 2015 and has introduced a number of changes to the business in Shenzhen that has seen the company “continuously reach an annual growth rate of 70% in 2016 and 2017”, the company told BBB. Over the same period, the number of employees at BMZ China increased from 200 to 800.
BMZ founder and managing director Sven Bauer (pictured) told BBB earlier this year that the group was in preliminary talks to secure additional battery cell supplies from China— and was considering partnering with a Japanese company to launch a battery cell production plant in Europe.