Engel Nears Completion of Capacity Expansion in Shanghai
As the company marks 10 years of large press production in Shanghai, it closes in on an expansion that will greatly expand capacity and max out the available land space.
One year after it marked 30 years in the Chinese market, Austrian injection molding machine and automation supplier Engel (U.S. headquarters in York, Penn.) celebrated 10 years of machine production in Shanghai with details on a big capacity expansion, as well as a shift in the local unit’s operational strategy.
Speaking at the pre-Chinaplas 2017 press event in Guangzhou, Gero Wilmeroth, president sales and service of Engel Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., said the expansion to its Shanghai facility, which opened in May 2007, should be completed by July. The company will celebrate the expansion and its anniversary at an event in September.
At this time, the Asia Pacific region accounts for 20% of Engel’s global turnover. Much (and more) of that machinery is made in Asia, with 85% of regional demand supplied locally. That figure is expected to climb to 90% once the expansion in Shanghai is completed and additional lines are taken on in Korea.
Last October, Engel Shanghai delivered its 1000th duo machine, a 4000-metric ton press for an automotive customer. Once the capacity expansion is completed, the company said it could theoretically reach the 1000 machine mark in only three years, given the site’s new production capabilities.
On the business side, Engel announced that Asia will adopt the end-market focused strategy deployed out of Austria, separating business by automotive, medical, packaging, technical molding and teletronics. In Asia, given the relative size and similarity of the markets, medical and packaging will be combined.
Starting on April 1, Engel extended the strategy to its operations in Korea, China and Southeast Asia (for its offices in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). Shanghai will support these regional operations. “You have the country view, and then you take business unit view of the industry,” Wilmeroth said. “Together with regional organizations, the business units discuss what can we do in this country to develop more in this industry. We get specific input and talk to the customers.”
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