On 10 July 2015, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag celebrated the official opening of its new Demag Plastics Machinery facility in Ningbo/China. Demag Plastics Machinery (Ningbo) Co., Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag of Schwaig/Germany, has been manufacturing injection moulding machines for the Asian market in Ningbo since 1998.Demag Plastics Machinery (Ningbo) has been manufacturing injection moulding machines for the Asian market since 1998. Over 17 years, the facility has delivered almost 10,000 machines to more than 1,000 customers across Asia. Stephan Greif, CEO of Demag Plastics Machinery (Ningbo), established the Chinese production site in 1998 and has been steadily advancing its sales and service infrastructure ever since. "Our customers, international corporations as well as local companies, highly appreciate our machines' impressive output rates and cost-efficiency. Supported by a highly-experienced team, our strong sales and service network provides a very high level of application-specific support." A total of 300 international customers and a range of senior staff members from parent company Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. (Tokyo) attended the official opening ceremony. "When Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Schwaig started its out in Ningbo in 1998, they were the first injection moulding company to deliberately install a production site in China," Gerd Liebig points out. "With more than 40,000 installed machines, China is and remains to be the largest international market for injection moulding machines. Our investment in a new facility is the cornerstone for further growth. Our objective is the strategic enhancement of our product portfolio and a high level of application-specific support for our customers."
With almost 27,000 square metres, the site will accommodate production and logistics facilities as well as providing about 13,000 square metres of available area and 1,400 square metres of administration floor space. At present, Ningbo is producing Systec C hydraulic injection moulding machines with clamping forces from 500 to 10,000 kN. Automation solutions and turnkey systems are being engineered hand in hand with system partners such as Sepro, MAI or Kebo.
For future growth, Stephan Greif will continue to rely on his experienced team members. "About 50% of our staff members have been with us for more than ten years. Over time, our team has developed a strong bond. When we joined forces with the Ningbo team 17 years ago, we introduced German corporate culture and entrepreneurial spirit to the company and today, we are still benefitting from the valuable combination of these assets with traditional Chinese values such as diligence, loyalty and open-mindedness. This is the bedrock of our success."
