Roeslein & Associates has marked 15 years of its Shanghai operation, building on founder Rudi Roeslein’s history in China that goes back to the 1980s

Building on Four Decades in China

Rudi Roeslein’s experience in China goes back to the 1980s, when, as founder of Roeslein & Associates, he helped bring the first unitized, preassembled systems into Guangzhou for Ball/MC Packaging. Delivering plants as pre-engineered modules meant customers could count on cost, schedule and quality without relying on local infrastructure that was still being built.

As the company’s customer base grew to include Chinese customers, it became clear that serving them well meant doing more in China itself. After around two years of preparation, Roeslein opened its Shanghai operation in 2011.

“It’s been a windy, crooked road since I first came to China in the eighties,” said Rudi Roeslein, founder of Roeslein & Associates. “Our modular approach helped this industry move into new markets with a speed and certainty that people are only now starting to appreciate.”

That experience is increasingly relevant to a new generation of investors and independents entering the can making industry, many of whom are building their first plants and may be new to the Roeslein name. For them, the certainty that modular, preassembled delivery brings over cost, quality and schedule matters as much today as it did in Guangzhou.

Roeslein Shanghai Today

Within three years of opening in 2011, the 3,000 square metre facility employed nearly 50 local engineers and fabrication staff. It relocated to a larger site in 2018, and today the operation in Songjiang District is home to more than 110 employees and an ISO 9001 certified facility of approximately 116,000 square feet, including 9,936 square metres of manufacturing space across three production bays.

Dedicated areas cover structural, pipe and conveyor fabrication, electrical and controls, powder coating and blasting, and module assembly, so large systems can be fabricated, preassembled and tested in Shanghai before shipping, reducing the assembly and installation work needed at customer sites. The team can run multiple production line projects at the same time, and its capabilities span the entire project lifecycle: engineering design, manufacturing, procurement, project management, installation, commissioning, and ongoing lifecycle support.

Recently, the Shanghai team has supported four major international projects across Asia and Africa, in Thailand, Vietnam, India and Nigeria. Two have been completed and delivered, and two are in the installation stage.

“Looking back over 15 years, what stands out is how far Shanghai has come, from delivering one or two small projects a year to running multiple production lines at once,” said Dr. Gangwei Wu, President of Global Manufacturing and Acting General Manager of Roeslein Shanghai. “Moving to our current facility in 2018 gave us the room to take on larger and more complex work, but the real success has always been our people. Their commitment, teamwork, and dedication have enabled us to deliver complete solutions, from engineering design through installation and long-term project support, and helped build this operation.”

Looking Ahead

“Shanghai has become a core part of Roeslein’s global capability and a big reason we can take on projects of scale and complexity for customers in every region,” said Brian Sneed, CEO at Roeslein & Associates. “Reaching 15 years is a credit to everyone who has been part of that journey, and it gives us a strong foundation for what comes next.”

Looking ahead, Shanghai’s capabilities also provide Roeslein with greater flexibility as the business expands into new markets. While canmaking remains a significant part of the operation’s work today, the team’s engineering, manufacturing and project execution expertise can be applied across Roeslein’s broader portfolio as new opportunities emerge.

Celebrating the Milestone

The anniversary was marked with a family day for the Shanghai team, including a service award ceremony recognising long-serving employees and a commemorative video featuring messages from staff about their time with the company. The celebrations also coincided with a visit to the Shanghai facility from longtime customer ALUCAN.

The anniversary fell in the same week as the Canmaker Summit, also held in Shanghai, where Jason Ramskill, President, Global Can Manufacturing at Roeslein, presented on the practical realities of building a can plant.