Dana opens advanced gear manufacturing plant in Thailand

Dana has opened the Dana Spicer Thailand Gear Plant, established to support the light-vehicle market in Thailand and the Asia-Pacific region.

The state-of-the-art gear manufacturing facility in Rayong has created 100 new jobs and provides customers with access to Dana's global manufacturing resources and technical expertise at a local level, supporting increased customer demand for Spicer^® gears in the region.

The 70,000-square-foot facility represents Dana's third facility in Rayong and increases the total size of the company's footprint on its Rayong campus to nearly 237,000 square feet.  The facility optimises the company’s Asia-Pacific gear manufacturing supply chain as customers continue to grow in the region and request new technologies to support their expansion goals with locally produced solutions, customized for specific market needs.

"Dana's investment in Thailand is expanding our gear development and manufacturing capabilities to deliver technologies to our customers more quickly and cost effectively," said Bob Pyle, president of Dana Light Vehicle Driveline Technologies. "This new capacity will enable us to support Thailand's domestic and export markets and better equip the company for increasing customer demands in the Asia-Pacific region."  

The Rayong facility is equipped to produce Spicer AdvanTEK hypoid or spiral bevel ring and pinion gear sets, applicable to any customer. Dana can manufacture primary ring and pinion drive gearing for traditional banjo and beam axles, as well as all-wheel-drive systems.  The company's Spicer AdvanTEK gearing line offers best-in-class noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) performance, as well as greater power density in a compact package – increasing efficiency and durability for customers.

Through its testing and development facilities throughout the Asia-Pacific region – including recently opened technical centres in Wuxi, China, and Pune, India – Dana has increased its manufacturing capacity and is able to align its capabilities with customer requirements.

Dana says, for more than 20 years, it has supported major automakers in Thailand with the production of axles, gears, and driveshafts, including Ford, Mazda, Nissan, and Suzuki.  Currently, the company employs 875 people at four facilities in Thailand. The company has had a presence in the Asia-Pacific region for more than 50 years and has established a solid network of manufacturing facilities to support this rapidly growing market.