Engel is further expanding its worldwide mould technology
Engel is establishing a decentralised network of mould experts in its sales regions. Around the world, demand for integrated system solutions from a single source is rising. Alongside automation and other peripherals, the mould is part of the overall set-up in more and more cases.
It all starts with China. Davy Kong, head of the new department, and Ian Wang are the mould managers advising Engel customers in China on mould projects while developing mould solutions precisely tailored to products and manufacturing processes in partnership with a mould producing partner. “Injection mould technology calls for a great deal of coordination and close cooperation between ourselves, as the system solutions provider, and the plastics processors. That’s why it is so important to establish mould technology expertise close to our clients and have contact persons who speak their language,” says Dr. Christoph Steger, CSO of the Engel Group. “These two factors simplify project management and speed up the start-up of a new manufacturing solution.”
The two mould managers at Engel Machinery Shanghai underwent intensive training at the headquarters in Austria. They now work closely with other mould technology staff in Austria as well as the business units and application technology departments in Austria and Asia.
Engel will continue to strengthen its mould technology division in Shanghai in order to be able to offer its services from Shanghai to customers in other Asian countries in the future. Within the next year, mould managers will also be deployed to the production plant in York, PA in the USA serving the North American markets.
Developing customised injection moulding solutions presupposes a thorough understanding of available technologies and product specifications as well as sector-specific requirements and regional characteristics. As production solutions become ever more complex in the face of advancing process integration, for example, these aspects will become all the more important. Over the past four years, Engel has been continually expanding a decentralised network of specialist experts in its sales regions in order to keep pace with this trend. The first step was to establish its own automation centres in America and Asia while introducing a business unit structure. In establishing further teams for mould technology, Engel has reorganised another strategically important area on a global scale.
caption: Udo Stahlschmidt, head of mould technology at Engel, (centre) shares his expertise relating to moulds with Davy Kong, head of mould technology in China, (left) and Ian Wang (right), mould manager at Engel Machinery Shanghai.
