PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2012

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Häusserstr. 36 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49(0)6221-65108-0 fax: +49(0)6221-65108-28 info@hbmedia.net EDITORIAL Doris Fischer: f ischer@hbmedia.net Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Ilona Trotter Wolfgang von Schroeter Anthony Withers MEDIA CONSULTANTS Ute Andrä andrae@hbmedia.net Martina Hischmann hirschmann@hbmedia.net Ursula Wachter wachter@hbmedia.net phone: +49(0)6221-65108-0 fax: +49(0)6221-65108-28 France, Italy, Spain, UK Elisabeth Maria Köpke phone: +49(0)6201-878925 fax: +49(0)6201-878926 koepke@hbmedia.net LAYOUT AND PREPRESS Exprim Kommunikationsdesign Matthias Gaumann | www.exprim.de READER SERVICES Kay Krüger reader@hbmedia.net PRINT Chroma Druck & Verlag GmbH Werkstr.25 67454 Römerberg Germany WWW www.petpla.net | in dia.petpla.net PETplanet insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ sub- scription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identified as trade marks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 05/12 www.petpla.net EDITORIAL dear readers, EDITORIAL The charm of Chinaplas The 26th annual Chinaplas has just closed its doors. Compared to last year, 25% more overseas visitors participated in what is the 2 nd larg- est plastic show in the world. Unlike the K-Show and NPE, Chinaplas takes place every year, alternating between Shanghai and Guangzhou. Displaying new machine every year is a virtual impossibility. And costly. A few years ago members of the influential VDMA (German Engineer- ing Federation) tried to persuade the organisers to move away from an annual show, but to no effect. Ignoring this for a moment, what makes Chinaplas really different from the K-Show and NPE? First of all, signs carry different meanings in China. On practically every machine on display the crossed-out camera sign is ubiquitous. It seems to be subject to many interpretations. “No photography”, however, is one interpretation that definitely does not apply. They also do things differently in China as regards the services offered. At the entrance to the exhibition centre, freelance agents prom- ise cheap admission to the fair by selling exhibitor passes of companies that do not even exist. Some “photographers”, with a strong engineer- ing background, take detailed pictures of machines for undisclosed purposes. Other people, with a strong plant engineering background, attempt to gain access to one of the popular Open Houses operated by European machinery manufacturers, and the reason is not entirely due to the delicious Chinese food on offer. And then there are the attractive hostesses, working on commission, who make up in looks what they lack in engineering know-how, luring unsuspecting foreign customers (“you are looking for moulds?”) into certain Chinese tooling companies. Another startling difference is the fact that every year new Chinese machinery manufacturers appear out of nowhere, and exhibit machines that look amazingly similar to existing European designs. While senior management debate whether to sue the Chinese company for copyright or patent infringement, other freelance agents equipped with cameras and i-phones have meanwhile taken enough detailed photos to bring their own machines to a new level. This kind of “Chinese R&D” at the fair is only scratching the surface. Some companies do some more “basic research” and invest money. They buy machines and tooling from Euro- pean competitors in order to dismantle, measure and copy them. European machinery manufacturers are well aware of this situation. But they are also aware that China is one of the fastest growing bever- age markets. It simply cannot be ignored. For full coverage of Chinaplas, see our special feature on page 32. Yours, Michael Maruschke