Everything Is Bigger in China
Where can you find a molder who buys 100 injection machines over five years, and then another 100 machines in 18 months? In China, that’s where.
If you want a snapshot of the outsize scale and growth rate of the Chinese molding market, take the example of Xiamen Hongfa Electroacoustic Co. Ltd., China’s largest producer, and a leading global manufacturer, of electrical relays, semiconductors, low-voltage units, and contact connectors.
In early October, the company received its 300th injection press from Arburg in Lossburg, Germany. It started buying Arburg machines in the 1990s. A little over 20 years later, in 2011, it purchased its 100th Arburg machine. It purchased another 100 presses by the start of 2016, and 100 more in barely a year and a half.
Founded in 1984, Hongfa has a total of 16 production facilities in China, making 160 types of relays used in automotive, telecommunications, safety and control technology, home appliances, and aerospace. Hongfa uses close to the entire Arburg machine portfolio, including hydraulic, hybrid, and electric Allrounders for molding thermoplastics and thermosets.
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