Back in 1987, three brothers invested $206 to start a business making automotive parts. Today, Luo's Enterprise has four plants covering 495,000-square-feet and has spent 20 years supplying the domestic Chinese auto market.
In 2008, Luo's Enterprise will begin supplying Volkswagen AG in Germany and Brazil.
Luo's Enterprise, officially called Zhejiang Luoshi Industrial Development Co., makes noise, vibration and harshness products for the automotive market. Raw materials include rubber, metals and plastics.
The company imports plastic resins from North America and Germany, according to one of the three brothers, Luo Qing Liang. Synthetic rubber is imported from Japan, Holland and North America, Luo said.
``All our processes follow German standards,'' Lou said. The company has 10 plastic injection molding machines and two blowing machines.
The company also has machines for making rubber products, including 135 rubber injection presses. By the end of the year, that number will rise to 200. The company is investing in bigger, more-automated machines.
Luo said the company invests more than 10 percent of annual sales into technology and testing equipment.
The firm supplies Volkswagen in China with parts such as dust-boot covers. There currently is a trend in China to use polyurethane for dust-boot covers, according to Sharon Ye, a senior company executive.
She said that to win big orders from original equipment manufactures, quality management, and research and development are important.
The company - which still is owned by the three brothers, Luo Lian Meng, Luo Qing Liang and Luo Qing Wen - employs 1,000 and expects sales of $41 million in 2008.
Facilities include a 65,000-square-foot machining plant, a 97,000-square-foot tooling and stamping plant, a 140,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and a new 194,000-square-foot manufacturing plant. The new plant in Jiading, which started production in January, serves as the main manufacturing center for finished parts. It works on rubber materials, metal-surface treatment, plastic parts, and finishing and packing of the parts.
