A s countries around the world build wind farms to help address a growing demand for renewable energy resources, Suzlon has been among the biggest beneficiaries. Besides being one of the world's largest producers of wind turbines, Suzlon is also the most vertically integrated of such companies, with blade production facilities in China, India and the United States, each helping to serve a broad and growing market. Globally, Suzlon had revenues of $ 3.8 billion in 2008, employs more than 14,000 people in 21 countries, and has been expanding its manufacturing capacity from 1,500 megawatts to 2,700 MW, with plans to grow capacity to some 5,700 MW in the next few years. In North America, Suzlon, which operates as Suzlon Rotor Corporation, opened a manufacturing facility in Pipestone, Minnesota, in 2006 to produce turbine blades for the then- fledging market in the US. The company experienced some strong growth before the economic downturn and credit crunch of 2008 put many planned projects on hold. Now Suzlon is looking ahead to 2010 and a number of projects that are expected to quickly ramp up as financing becomes more freely available, says Mark Cronin, supply chain manager at the Pipestone facility. Before the downturn, Suzlon was producing one full turbine- three blades plus a nose cone- daily. " That was a good production rate for us and one we hope to return to next year when demand increases again," Cronin says. " We're comfortable that with that rate of production, we can meet the demand that we expect to see next year and beyond." Rather than boosting production, Suzlon has focused on building higher quality into the turbine blades it produces. " We've taken a step back and looked at refining the process with an eye toward boosting quality and reducing cycle time," Cronin adds. " The economic conditions make it the right time for that kind of effort." Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation NOVEMBER 09 www. bus- ex. com 173 of the world's largest producers of energy-producing wind turbines, with blade operations on three and customers around the globe. Keith Regan Minnesota manufacturing unit is preparing production ahead of an expected surge in coming years change of Winds