Kautex Machinery has appointed a new CEO for its Chinese company.
CEO Chen Juntian will be responsible for the sales and service business of blow molding machines produced in China, and Du Guoliang, managing director, will be responsible for production and technology.
Chen Juntian said: 'China's demand for industrial packaging, consumer packaging and automotive product solutions has increased.' At the same time, he added, Kautex's sales of extrusion blow molding machines in the region have increased by 30 since 2015. % the above.
At 2018 Shanghai International Plastics and Rubber Fair, the company based in Bonn, Germany, highlighted its strength in the production of lightweight three-layer plastic bottles and 'anti-terrorism' LPG cylinders. The company is also preparing to open an upgrade in China this year. laboratory.
According to Kautex, the Asian business is booming, with sales of 50.2 million euros ($60.4 million) last year, up 51% year-on-year.
In order to better serve Asian customers, Kautex said that a 'Teknikum' training and product development lab will be opened later this year at the Shunde plant in Guangdong Province, and one of the KCC 10 machines will be installed.
The company said: 'In the future, Chinese customers will be able to enjoy the Coates service provided by Bonn headquarters.'
Kautex plans to open another Teknikum in the US next year.
At Chinaplas, the company showed a smaller footprint KCC10 MK3 machine. The machine can produce three layers of plastic bottles, which use micro-foaming technology to sandwich the foam in two layers of polyethylene. 1. Kautes said that the foam layer reduced the weight of the bottle by 10%.
According to the company, micro-foaming technology can be used in all continuous extrusion packaging machines.
Kautex said that the third generation KCC10 machine can also be used in automotive applications.
Kautex will also install one of the KBS20 machines at the Tianjin plant to blow up liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) high pressure gas cylinders. These cylinders will then be reinforced with fiberglass.
According to the company, gas cylinders are available in four sizes, ranging from 18.5 to 35.5 liters. These cylinders are lighter and safer than metal LPG cylinders that are common throughout China.
Kautex said that such cylinders will burn but not explode, and have been tested by bullets. Unlike the blast of metal oxygen cylinders in the climax of the movie "Great White Shark" released in 1975.
Dimitri Zhang, chief representative of the Kautex Shanghai office, said: 'You can shoot these cylinders with bullets, they won't explode'.
He humorously added: 'This type of cylinder is our company's anti-terrorism product'.
In addition, Kautex also presented the latest virtual machine at its booth, which can simulate the production process of Katus KBS, KBB and KCC machines.
The company admits that as hybrid and electric vehicles become more popular, the Chinese automotive industry has slowed demand for the purchase of Kautex machines. Extruders are widely used in the pipelines of blow molding internal combustion engines.
The company said that sales of packaging machines in the Chinese market have rebounded.
This exhibition is the first time that Kautex participated in the Chinaplas after the acquisition of the 74.9% stake held by the Berlin investment company Capiton AG by the Plastech Beteiligungs GmbH in Vienna.
Plastech partner Paul Neumann said: 'We are looking for companies that can help them expand their markets in China and Asia.' The acquisition was released on January 18.
Kautex has been operating in China since 1994 and opened the Shunde factory in 2013.
Globally, Kautex achieved annual sales of 140 million euros ($168 million) in 2017, an increase of 18% year-on-year.