Epiroc to relocate operations from Japan to China

Company closing Yokohama production facility and relocating drill rig manufacturing to Nanjing

STOCKHOLM-based Epiroc are relocating the production and development of drill rigs for surface drilling and blasting operations from Japan to their facility in Nanjing, China. The production facility in Yokohama, Japan, has been sold and will be closed.

Epiroc’s customer centre will be relocated in the Yokohama area to maintain support for customers in Japan, including overhauls, rebuilds, and upgrades of their existing fleets.

In Nanjing, manufacturing will benefit from larger-scale production, sourcing, and logistics infrastructure, which will increase efficiency. The Yokohama production facility, with about 50 employees, will be closed by mid-2023.

‘We continuously strive to increase operational excellence, and this move will improve our long-term competitiveness and agility,’ said Epiroc’s president and chief executive officer, Helena Hedblom.

‘Our facility in Nanjing provides clear benefits with its significant infrastructure for production, sourcing, and logistics. We are saddened that this will affect some of our colleagues in Japan.’

The production and development that will be relocated is part of Epiroc’s PowerROC range of drilling equipment, such as the PowerROC T25 surface drill rig.