CW Bearing USA sets up shop in Detroit suburb

A production line inside CW Bearing USA headquarters in Northville Township, Michigan. Hong Xiao / China Daily

China's leading maker of ball bearings now has a facility near the center of the American automotive industry.

CW Bearing USA, a subsidiary of China's Cixing Group Co Ltd, held a grand opening for its headquarters and technical center in Northville Township, Michigan on Friday.

The new headquarters, about 30 miles northwest of Detroit, will replace the company's previous headquarters in Tustin, California and house the engineering, sales and executive staff.

The 50,000-square-foot, $25.9 million plant is expected to create 125 jobs and is supported by a $550,000 performance-based grant from the state and a property-tax abatement from Northville.

"The grand opening today is a compelling new quest for the company. The quest is to set up our new vision, new strategy and new goal for our long-term growth," CW Bearing USA's President and CEO Lirong (John) Hu said during the ceremony.

Founded in 1984 in Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province by current President Hu Xiangen, Cixing Group Co Ltd specializes in the development and production of a wide range of premium-quality ball bearings for electrical motors, gearboxes, power tools and the automotive industry.

As one of the 10 largest producers of ball bearings in China, the company possesses a worldwide sales and distribution network in Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America.

According to Hu, CW Bearing USA's customers include a dozen of Fortune 500 companies, including toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker.

"We have successfully opened a market in automotive. We earned business from Nexteer, ZF-TRW, JTEKT, Mando and many others. Today, our business consists of 70 percent revenue in automotive and 30 percent in industries," Hu said.

With the phase I investment in the new headquarters and manufacturing space, Hu said the company is ready to embark on new business.

"We are ready for both automotive and industrial customers with the capacity and capabilities in designing, testing, engineering, grinding and assembling components and parts here in Northville," he said.

"With the planned phase II investment and production capacity, our goal is to achieve $500 million sales in North America by 2025," added.

The company has developed its strategy to continue organic growth by adding manufacturing capacity in North America.

The company also has started expanding through mergers and acquisitions. Earlier this month, CW Bearing USA acquired Drake Manufacturing Inc of Warren, Ohio for $2.1 million. Drake, a global designer and builder of production systems for makers of parts with threads, has been in business for 45 years.

With Drake now in the CW Bearing fold, Hu said it will help the company build a solid foundation to ensure a high-quality parts supply to customers.

"We had planned to invest at least another $10 million in North America, especially in Michigan and in other suitable markets. We will implement our strategy in advanced manufacturing and assembling components for our customers in local markets," he said.

"In the meantime, we are looking for additional acquisition opportunities to advance our technology related to bearings, machining, tooling, robots and automation and are looking for other potential targets to expand our market share," he added.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a frequent visitor to China, wrote in a congratulatory letter. "I am confident in our future because of businesses like CW Bearing USA, whose hard work and community engagement inspires others to do great things," he said.

"Without question, it is on the cutting edges of innovation in our state, and I sincerely thank them for contributing to the growth and reinvention of Michigan," wrote Snyder, who made a nine-day investment mission to China earlier this month.

Last year, Michigan ranked second in the US in the number of investment projects from China. Michigan also ranked third in the number of jobs created through Chinese investment.

Between January 2010 and July 2017, the state received $1.1 billion in new business investment from China, according to michigan.gov, the state's website.

xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com