Companies specializing in precision engineering and high-performance plastic products may remain the minority in the commodity-oriented China.
For Huanrui Rui Molding Co., Ltd., headquartered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the road company has gone 10 years so far.
The U.S. company, which has a small injection molding factory in Wuhan, recently announced details of its blood test facility for Jana Care, a Boston-based company.
The device plugs into the smartphone and transmits data to the lab.
Russ Johnson
In an interview, Russ Russo, chairman of Hua Anrui, said: "We are a bit similar to the high-tech industry's fine injection molding company."
'Many high-tech companies have great ideas that need to be introduced into the real world,' he said. 'We are very good at adopting their concepts, giving them advice on material selection, manufacturing and how to mold, and then we make the mold for them '
Hualian manufactures and assembles Jana's Aina's mobile blood monitoring system and commercial distribution in Asia and is investigating Jana's proposed upgrade to bring it to the global market.
At a joint news briefing between the two companies, Jana's general manager said central China helps reduce manufacturing costs, which is key to the global sales strategy.
"Wuhan ... is a great choice to keep equipment affordable and that's the key to our goal of maximizing utilization in all regions," said Michal Depa, CTO, Jana Care. .
Most of the plastics industry in China is concentrated near Shanghai or the Pearl River Delta in southern China, but when Johnson looked for a factory location in 2006, he chose Wuhan, an inland industrial city, where there is a substantial automotive manufacturing base .
The reason is simple: Johnson, who has been doing business in China since 1980, has a connection there.
He said the city of 10 million has a skilled workforce, a good engineering university and salaries are lower than elsewhere.
Its location, also the hiring advantage of being the provincial capital of central China, Johnson said there are workers over the age of 40 who work as migrant workers in other parts of China before coming to Wuhan.
'Our core employee group has followed us for eight to 10 years,' he said. 'That kind of loyalty is rare in China.'
The 20,000-square-foot Wuhan plant runs six injection molding machines, including the recently purchased 25-ton Arbor vertical machine to process in-mold injection, and plans to add another Arburg vertical machine during the year.
Pittsfield, the company's headquarters, has three engineers plus two support staff.
In the Jana project, Hua Anrui managers focus on the production of small parts and assembly.
'This is a big boost to the miniaturization of the medical industry,' he said.
Jana found Huaan Rui through an acquaintance in the medical device industry in Massachusetts.
'Having adopted Aina's concept of CAD and 3D printing, we need to continue studying the prototype of injection molding and then make rapid, scaleable production,' said Depa of Jana Care.
Johnson said the device involves many precision engineering.
'The angle of the light is very important and the reflective surface is very important,' he said. 'It is small and must snap into the shell.'
Hua Rui said that its engineers thought of using polycarbonate / ABS plastic mixture to achieve this function.
This equipment is available to patients without a laboratory or healthcare examiners in the vicinity, which can be used to analyze HbA1c, the key to diabetes screening, and blood glucose, hemoglobin, and lipids through capillary blood samples.
Many Hua Anrui projects require high-performance plastic products that withstand extremely high temperatures and often possess other attributes such as resistance to chemicals or rubbing.
A typical application is continuously variable transmissions in off-road vehicles, such as PG Werks's DTV Shredder, headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, similar to Segway with tank tracks.
Poor conditions of use of the scooter, brass drive shaft gear wear too fast, then BPG found Huaanrui, Hua Anrui developed polyetheretherketone - insert injection - steel solution.
Intellectual property protection is a major focus of corporate clients, with 30% of its customers being Chinese businesses, but Hualian drafts contracts under US law and makes molds internally.
'We have complete control over the process,' said Johnson. 'We have a strong sense of intellectual property protection and I think we are well prepared on this issue.'
Despite its success, Hua Anrui did not plan to open a factory in the United States. "We are committed to China," Johnson said.
'There is still room for improvement in China's high-performance thermoforming molds, and there are several such mold makers in the United States,' he said. 'You have to focus entirely on that.'