Guangzhou, China — German polyurethane machinery maker KraussMaffei (KM) is building a new plant in China to double its capacity there.
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Sieverding: Making China more important for KM
The company expects to see China play a larger role both as a source of R&D and as a machinery export base.
The Munich-based company made the announcement at a pre-Chinaplas event on 20 May.
Jiaxing, city 90 km south-west of Shanghai is the new site's home and construction has started, the company said.
The project will make the company's full range of machines. This includes injection moulding machines, extruders, robots and polyurethane equipment. Capital for the project has come from its owner ChemChina.
'We have a strong focus on China. This is not just because we’re part of the ChemChina family, but we see a lot of growth potential,' said Matthias Sieverding, KM’s president of extrusion technology.
'We’ll start exporting more of these products out of China to the markets that we serve worldwide,' he added.
In addition, KM wants to tap into China's automation and artificial intelligence growth, said Nadine Despineux. Despineux is president of KM’s new digital service solutions unit.
'China is a clear accelerator for our global digitalisation strategy,' she said. 'We use the speed that is in this market, learn from it and bring it to the rest of the world.'
By Steve Toloken
This story first appeared in Plastics News
