News |
|
Heidelberg Expands Chinese Manufacturing |
 |
 |
|
Written by PrintAction Staff
|
|
Tuesday, 11 October 2011 |
 On September 28, 2011, Heidelberg celebrated the official opening of the third construction phase at its
Qingpu site near Shanghai in China. The completion of this phase extends
the plant's production area to 45,000 square meters - a threefold
increase in the space of just four years. This expansion will let Heidelberg fulfill the increasing demand from Chinese shops as well as export machines to neighbouring countries.
"China
is now our number one individual sales market and plays an important
role in our business development. The demand for print products is
growing all the time in China and has more than tripled over the past
ten years. Every third machine sold by Heidelberg in China now comes
from Qingpu. Offering locally produced machines has enabled us to tap
into additional customer segments in our industry's most important
future market. Our strategy of taking full advantage of the potential in
emerging markets is thus paying off," said Heidelberg CEO Bernhard
Schreier at the opening ceremony.
The Qingpu plant has 400 employees and has been manufacturing small- and medium-format presses and folding machines for the Chinese market since 2005. The company is now also producing presses in the 27.56 x 39.37 -inch segment at Qingpu.
Heidelberg claims to be the only press manufacturer based in either Europe or Japan to have a production facility in China. "Our
customers can always rely on products from Heidelberg being of the
highest quality, irrespective of whether a machine originates from
Germany or China," said Stephan Plenz, member of the Management Board
responsible for Heidelberg Equipment and thus for the Qingpu site. "This
is confirmed by the more than 1,000 presses and folding machines
already supplied from Qingpu. To ensure high quality standards, we train
our staff with support from Germany and approve all our suppliers in
accordance with very strict standardized criteria."
|
