China Wind Systems Inc. (China; NASDAQ: CWS) is now listed and trading on the NASDAQ stock market.

2007 article: Malex merges, forms China Wind Systems
It is the first new company manufacturing bearings to be publicly traded since RBC in 2005. Ironically, RBC and CWS are also now competitors by virtue of their recent moves into the wind energy bearing market.

CWS is primarily focused on manufacturing forged rolled rings, shafts, gear rims and yaw bearings for China's fast-growing wind energy industry. The company said it is positioning itself to take full advantage of the shortage of all types of components in China's wind energy supply chain. Specifically, there is a shortage of forged products such as rolled rings, shafts, and gear rims which are used in the gearbox, and rolled rings used in yaw bearings. CWS also sells its bearing rings into other industries 5251R9N7.

Prior to 2009, CWS's primary business was a dyeing and finishing equipment business unit, now in decline and which many believe will be shut down to better focus on rings and yaw bearings. CWS also used to make control systems for commercial coking and power plants; that division was sold off in 2009.

CWS started getting deeply into precision forged rolled rings in 2007, when it spent USD $11 million to acquire a 100,000 square foot factory, employee housing, and other facilities. The company has based its forged rolled ring and component manufacturing out of this new location, particularly because large diameter rolled rings required a much larger facility than it had been using.

Beyond the wind power industry, CWS sells forged rolled rings and other forged components into the heavy machinery manufacturing, petrochemical, metallurgical, sea port machinery, defense and radar manufacturing industries.

The specific technology used by CWS to produce precision forgings is called axial closed die forging, a relatively new method for producing rotary precision forgings, and CWS produces its own forging and manufacturing equipment. CWS claims its fully automated, near-net axial closed die process cuts raw material requirements by up to 35%, produces a high-precision part with excellent flatness, needing little cleanup, and results in excellent mechanical strength and elasticity.

In 2009, CWS also expanded its precision forging capacity by moving toward ESR, or electro-slag re-melting technology. ESR improves the durability and quality of the steel. It also allows CWS to blend specialty alloys, which CWS said it believes will be needed to meet anticipated strength requirements of next-generation of wind turbines.

2009 article: China Wind Systems expands precision forging capacity
CWS has also expanded to accommodate larger diameter rolled ring forging production, as the wind energy market grows. Rolled ring forgings are made by taking a forged ring and then gradually squeezing it around and around between rotating inner and outer dies. This produces a solid, one-piece ring which can be a very large diameter.