GW Plastics, Inc. announces it will expand its manufacturing facility in Dongguan, China.

June 12, 2014

GW Plastics, Inc. of Bethel last week announced it will expand its manufacturing facility in Dongguan, China, a city in the Gwangdong Province of southern China about a 90-minute drive from Hong Kong.

Early next year, GW plans to relocate its existing operations in Dongguan into a larger, standalone, 125,000-square-foot building, located within an existing industrial park. The expansion “will provide the room needed for continued growth” and is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2015, the company said.

The current plant is just 50,000 square feet. It employs about 200 people; that number is expected to gradually increase as growth is enabled in the new plant.

GW Plastics–Dongguan includes in-house tool building, clean room molding and assembly, and global shipping of finished medical devices.

“We are working very closely with our customers to plan the necessary coordination for the transfer,” said Benjamin Bouchard, who is GW’s vice president of International Business and managing director of China operations. “We are committed to making this move transparent to our customers.”

In addition to the increased room for growth, the new facility will allow for a much larger in-house tool manufacturing operation and more streamlined production operations. By more than doubling the size of their plant, GW Plastics will be able to significantly expand its room for growth.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to move into this larger and more efficient facility, and the advantages it will offer to GW Plastics and our customers,” said Bouchard.

The Dongguan plant makes products similar to those produced in Bethel and Royalton, but it will ship to customers mostly in China, and Europe. GW operations in Texas and Arizona support customers in the Southwest U.S. and northern Mexico.

Bouchard stressed that the enlargement of the plant in China will not result in taking jobs away from Central Vermont. In fact, he said such plants allow GW to offer customers a “global footprint” which “has resulted in more opportunities and business” at the Vermont headquarters.

The company’s customer mix, he noted, “is mainly large multinational companies. These companies expect their supply base to be able to support their international operations.

“GW Plastics remains committed to our Vermont operation, and we continue to invest in equipment and facilities in Bethel and Royalton,” he said.

“We have not, nor do we intend to, transfer any Vermont-based business to our China operation.”

(from The Herald of Randolph)