PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2012

REGIONAL MARKET REPORTS 16 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 09/12 www.petpla.net Lenny Xuan: “We approach clients before defining the product to be able to present the optimum solution for a sensitive product – utilising our global experience: In mould making speed to the market, rapid reaction to customer’s needs and time is of the essence. The design of the bottle is transferred directly to the tooling centre, where the mould is manufactured on Mazak tooling machinery. Thereafter the mould is assembled and tested – all within the space of 7 days.” Four designers, four process engineers, four laboratory engineers are servicing the market. Moulds for blowers are 100% made in the country. Manufacturing in Beijing We flew from Shanghai to Beijing, where we were anxious to visit Sidel’s “multi-product plant“, as it is known and for which the market and even competitors are full of admiration. The trip to Beijing turned out to be well worthwhile. For here, in a constantly developing industrial zone situated on the doorstep of the Chinese capital, is a modern factory for assembling all the products that form part of Sidel’s range – from blow moulding machines and fillers, supplied in combi format, in a block arrangement as well as stand- alone equipment. This lean factory could be anywhere, even in Europe, with its clear allocation of production space, with a well laid-out flow of materials, the KanBan systems for the smaller parts, the pre-assembled modules that are delivered just-in-time for final assembly. Sidel (or rather its Swedish holding company) have invested a total of € 45 million – Sidel’s “largest ever indus- trial investment” – in this impressive factory. It is “the first multi-product plant in Sidel’s global industrial set-up for making blowers, fillers, labellers, conveyors and end-of-line equipment”. Keywords from the vocabulary of Sidel Beijing and their message to the Chinese market: “Proximity to your customers, reduced lead times, speed to the market, localisation of product and qualified staff.” The factory is the expression of a commitment to the company’s customers locally and at the same time testi- fies to confidence in China’s future and to the assurance that the economic development of the last few years will be sustained. Equipment from France is still continuing to find its way into China, but only when the need arises – i.e. for reasons of technology and/or capacity. In terms of quality there should be no difference between products originating from European production plants and those that are pro- duced in the Sidel plant in China. The Beijing plant Sidel’s factory in Malaysia has been closed and produc- tion relocated to Beijing/ China. The buildings here in Beijing came on stream in Octo- ber 2008. The shop-floor covers an area of 38,000m 2 . The concept is intended to convey a professional and at the same time eco-friendly approach (light, water, landscape –