Second SSW Facility to Significantly Boost Output Capacity

Stamford Sport Wheels (SSW) is swiftly emerging as a popular provider of high quality aluminium wheels courtesy of its own manufacturing complex near Bangkok, Thailand. This facility, established in 2004, holds a potential production capacity of over 450,000 wheels per year. Currently more than 30,000 wheels roll off the plant’s twin production line each month, with 80 per cent of these exported to numerous destinations, including Europe.

All factory equipment is fully automated and computerised, with each level of production closely monitored and controlled. Wheels are cast using what SSW calls ‘Tilting Gravity Casting’ technology, complete with automatic robotic feeding, the result of this being less air turbulence during the pouring process to ensure stronger and tougher wheels with reduced porosity and fewer pinholes.

SSW is also keen to point out that all wheels it produces are rigorously subjected to an eight-hour ‘Full Heat Treatment’ process to ensure an optimal combination of both strength and durability. Only the highest quality A356.2SR aluminium ingot imported from Australia and Bahrain is used in the production process, and each incoming batch of aluminium ingot is quality tested using an Optical Emission Spectrometer

The entire SSW wheel range is produced to high safety standards incorporating, comments the Singapore based company, and SSW wheels are available in sizes from 13 inches through to 26 inch applications to incorporate the car, SUV and light truck sectors of the market, with numerous styles and finishes available.

In terms of design and development, SSW prides itself in operating its own team of in-house design engineers, with the added valuable support of an outsourced American design house when required. All new designs are created with the aid of CAD/CAM software, and it is also worth noting, says SSW, that the company enjoys the technical benefits of a research partnership with SIMTech (Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology), thereby giving it the means by which it can be at the very forefront with new design technology as and when it happens.

Looking to the future, SSW is currently constructing a new manufacturing facility near its existing location in Thailand, which is scheduled to be completed during 2008, and will enable monthly wheel production to rise significantly.