With a market presence dating back 28 years, Germany-based
Arburg has been investing in China continuously and has earned itself a reputation for excellent product quality and service.
On 18 September, 550 invited guests were in attendance for the official opening of the Arburg Technology Center (ATC) in Pinghu, while 7,700 people watched it online. The event followed an open house ceremony featuring fascinating speeches and presentations of innovative applications and processes.
Gerhard Boehm, managing director sales at Arburg, said: “The ATC in Pinghu marks a significant milestone for Arburg’s presence in China, where we now have four locations. Due to the ongoing travel restrictions arising from the coronavirus situation, he gave his address on behalf of the parent company via video message: “By investing in the new location we are demonstrating our unwavering commitment to keeping our market promise even in difficult times.”
“The ATC in Pinghu will enable us to focus on driving forward our turnkey business in China. Working together with local partners, we will be delivering a wide range of automation solutions and adapting machines to meet customer-specific requirements – even up to complete production cells.
Zhao Tong, managing director of Arburg in China, said: “The new location and its excellent facilities equip us to do this in the best way possible,” added . “We are also expanding our warehousing capacities in order to significantly reduce delivery times.”
The new facilities provide more than 2,300m
2 to accommodate in excess of 60 “Made in Germany” Allrounders manufactured exclusively at company headquarters in Lossburg. As well as providing a base for machine specification and automation, the ATC in Pinghu also offers facilities for customers to have their injection moulds tested and attend training courses.
The training provision will deliver comprehensive process and application technology support and consulting services drawn from decades of know-how obtained in the fields of plastics processing, automation and digitalisation.
The subsidiary in Shanghai has been Arburg’s central location in China since 2004. It is from here that all sales activities across the country are coordinated. A machine warehouse opened nearby in 2013, followed by an ATC in Shenzhen in 2006. Thanks to close cooperation with the team in Shanghai, Arburg is able to offer its customers first-class pre-sales and after-sales service, the scope of which is expanding all the time. Expansion into China started back in 1992, when the company’s first subsidiary opened in Hong Kong. To ensure fast availability to the customer, service technicians and sales experts are also deployed on a decentralised basis along the entire “plastic belt” along the Pacific coast, as well as in the centre of the country in Chengdu.
Open house and official inauguration ceremony
The official inauguration ceremony on 18 September 2020 at the ATC in Pinghu started with an open house featuring an innovation summit. Six machines were seen in production and there was also seminars addressing trends and innovations in plastics processing.
Among the highlights were two new innovations that should have been premiered at
Chinaplas 2020; the arburgXworld customer portal and an LSR version of an Allrounder from the Golden Electric series designed specifically for processing liquid silicone rubber.
Other presentations included the innovative fibre direct compounding process (FDC) for lightweight construction, challenging automated applications for packaging technology and medical technology and Arburg Plastic Freeforming (APF) for industrial additive manufacturing with the Freeformer.
Arburg also showcased its digitalisation and service expertise by giving guests a full introduction to the customer portal, the host computer system and after-sales activities.
After the open house, Zhao Tong cut the ribbon to officially open the site in the presence of government officials. The ceremony closed with a traditional lion dance to drive away evil spirits from the site.