Daido Will Boost Bearing Production in Japan and Thailand

Daido Metal Co. Ltd. (Japan) announced extensive plans to expand production of bearings for truck engines at both its main plant in Japan and a joint-venture facility in Thailand. Both will have new production lines installed by mid-2004. Daido is moving to boost output in anticipation of continued strong sales growth, driven by demand for low-emission truck engines. Daido manufactures thinwall bearings for automotive and truck engines, and heavywall bearings for off-highway, industrial, marine and stationary engine applications. They are one of only a few manufacturers of "super-large" plain bearings up to 1,250mm OD, while their marine bearings are designed for internal combustion engines putting out over 70,000 horsepower. The company also manufactures a wide array of mounted and unmounted polymer plain bearings and slides, and plain steel bearings and slides. They are used in air conditioners, industrial and office equipment, automotive shock absorbers, and a variety of other applications with customers around the world. A shorter lineup of polymer/steel roller bearings rounds out the product line. Since 1997, Daido and Dana Corporation's Glacier Vandervell Bearings Group have operated the Clevite brand engine bearing plant in Bellefontaine, Ohio as a joint venture facility, Glacier Daido America. The plant supplies domestic auto manufacturers. In Japan, Daido has five bearing manufacturing facilities. Two joint-venture facilities are in Taiwan, with one each in Korea, Indonesia and Thailand. In this latest program, Daido said it will spend at least ¥ 2 billion (USD $19 million) to expand truck engine bearing production at its DYNA Metal joint-venture plant in Thailand and its Inuyama factory in Japan's Aichi Prefecture. DYNA is a 1973 joint venture of Daido and Thailand's Seri Wathana Industry Co. Ltd. While the plant produces a variety of plain bearings and bushings, only the engine bearing section is targeted for expansion at this time. Daido's Inuyama factory was built in 1960 and is the company's main plant in Japan. One new production line is coming online this month, while the other is scheduled for startup in March 2004.