Technical solutions consultancy, Romax Technology has recently completed a tour of Chinese manufacturers that supply key components for the wind energy industry. A team of Romax’s engineering and manufacturing experts visited several of its clients and suppliers with the aim of sharing their expertise and improving their knowledge of Chinese manufacturing capabilities.
The visit covered all aspects of current manufacturing capacity for large wind turbines from gearbox components through to wind turbine assembly. It provided a unique opportunity for manufacturers to leverage Romax’s technical and manufacturing expertise as well as allowing Romax to develop a greater understanding of the manufacturing processes and capabilities that exist in China.
Over a period of two and a half weeks the Romax team, including Senior Metallurgy Consultant Dr Malcolm Hampshire, and Senior Manufacturing Consultant Mr David Halford, visited more than ten companies involved in the production of wind turbine components. During the site visits Romax examined a range of manufacturing processes from casting and forging through to gearbox assembly and testing.
At each of the manufacturing sites, Romax was given a tour of the individual plants and reviewed the facilities and made enquiries on a range of processes Within 24 hours, the Romax team presented its findings to the manufacturer, giving an assessment of their overall capabilities in manufacturing wind turbine components and highlighting areas where improvements could be made.
The companies taking part in the manufacturing visits engaged in productive discussions with Romax, particularly in the areas of heat treatment and inspection methods and Romax staff were able to suggest various improvements, which were very well received. Manufacturers were impressed, not only with the reports provided by Romax but also the speed with which the team were able to make assessments and recommendations.
“The purpose of this visit was in part to improve our knowledge of the current wind turbine manufacturing capability in China but also to share our expert knowledge of key processes within the production of wind turbines,” explained Dr Xiaobing Hu, Business Development Director for Renewable Energy at Romax Technology. “.As a result of this trip we have since received excellent feedback from our customers who said the visit was extremely useful for them and that they have been able to improve their knowledge from our manufacturing experts.”
The manufacturing visit comes as part of Romax’s continued work with Chinese manufacturers, assisting their successful development to provide quality components into the wind energy industry. Romax’s expertise in design and analysis of wind turbine components has lead to increasing demand for their software and consultancy services within the Chinese wind energy industry, making them one of the most knowledgeable consultants on Chinese wind energy component manufacturing.