German machine maker Arburg recently celebrated the anniversary of “25 years of Arburg in China” in Shanghai with around 200 invited guests. In recognition of the subsidiary’s commitment, Managing Partner Renate Keinath presented the anniversary sculpture to Zhao Tong, Managing Director of the Arburg organisations in China. Other highlights were video messages from Senior Partner Eugen Hehl, employees of the parent company and numerous customers.
In her address, Managing Partner Renate Keinath said: “I’m extremely impressed with what our team here has achieved over the last quarter century. In line with the Arburg “Wir sind da.” brand promise, our employees have always been there for their customers.” She said that Arburg can be relied upon, just like a trusted family member, as the team in China has been proving on a daily basis for 25 years now.
Speaking on behalf of the owner families and the entire Arburg parent company, she thanked Arburg’s employees in China for their untiring commitment.
More messages of congratulations were conveyed by video relay: Senior Partner Eugen Hehl expressed his personal thanks to the Chinese employees for 25 successful years. In addition, several colleagues from the various departments at the Arburg parent company and a number of customers from China took this opportunity to express their congratulations on the occasion of the silver jubilee and to wish the employees all the best for the future.
Managing Director Sales Gerhard Böhm took the time to review the success story of Arburg in China: “It all began in 1992 with the establishment of a subsidiary in Hong Kong. From the outset, we concentrated on machines for the manufacture of high-quality plastic products – just as we have done all over the world. This strategy has borne fruit and we have been able to add two more subsidiaries: first in Shanghai in 2004 and then in Shenzhen in 2006.”
Böhm believes that this successful development confirms that Arburg chose the right path decades ago and that the company’s continuous investments in the Chinese market have paid dividends. Gerhard Böhm expressed his thanks to customers for the trust they had placed in Arburg and for the successful cooperation over the past decades. Zhao Tong echoed these words of gratitude and emphasised: “You have joined us on our journey, helping us and contributing to the fact that the Arburg team in China now numbers 80 employees, who are ready to offer you comprehensive support.”
Böhm explained the development of the customer structure as follows: “In the early years, our customers tended primarily to be large, globally operating companies. This has changed significantly in the interim and we are now pleased to say that more and more domestic injection moulding companies are benefiting from the advantages of our high-performance machines. They not only appreciate the performance of our high-tech Allrounder machines, but also our extensive expertise in service and consulting.” As examples of the wide range of services, he mentioned the hotline, which is operated by experts, the experienced service and application technicians, the excellently equipped spare parts store, the showrooms for trials using Allrounders and the Freeformer for additive manufacturing, the multifaceted training programme and the machine warehouse in Shanghai.
“In addition to our strong presence with three locations and our service offering, our decision to communicate in the language of the country also reflects the great importance of China for Arburg,” said the Managing Director Sales. Examples of this include the use of Arburg’s Chinese name with a corresponding logo, the Chinese version of the Arburg website, the Chinese edition of Arburg’s “today” magazine, and the weChat channel run by the subsidiary with over 12,000 followers as a direct link to customers.