PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2012

REGIONAL MARKET REPORTS 11 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 11/12 www.petpla.net successes of the last few years. Here in Taicang is where the support teams “Machines“ and “Trading“ are located. These are tasked with the following:  Final assembly of the overall plant with the core machines from overseas in semi-knocked down condi- tion and the local sections and elements. Customising, completion, testing and commissioning  Simultaneous incorporation of the supply contract into the so-called ”Krones - Life Cycle Service (LCS)“ takes place.  The “Life Cycle“project is handled jointly with the cus- tomer. First of all, Krones Taicang provides the fitters for assembly and commissioning. After this, at short periodical intervals, joint discussions are held with the customer before delivery as regards delivery, during site erection and commissioning, right up to the end of the guarantee period and even beyond up to the end of the productive life time of the equipment – at least this is the idea and intention.  Another focus of Krones Taicang are tools for blow moulding, which are designed and manufactured locally – the latter incorporating a major outlay on machine tools and temperature control of the factory floor areas in order to take into account the requirement for high quality. The strategy is outlined by the General Manager – patiently, quietly, laid back, in a very matter-of-fact tone. This is the way it has to be, this is the way it is going to be, this is the way Christian Blatt sees things from his position at the helm. You get the feeling that, here in Taicang, mat- ters follow a tranquil path – wholly in line with the spirits of Confucius. Cost pressures, those potentially ugly by-prod- ucts of the intense competition, difficulties as regards qual- ity assurance, conflicts of understandings with the ‘Long Noses’ (Westerners), all these seem to be forgotten in the Krones world in Taicang, in a world of total concentration and success. An oasis of calm in a turbulent world – as it appears. In any event, any compulsion to reel the orders in lies in Germany. Of one thing there is no doubt: Life Cycle is a convinc- ing and successful concept in China. Krones’ share in the various markets is growing. The factory is expanding. Christian Blatt is modest about his obvious success and says: ”Everyone is doing well – KHS with JV, Sidel with local production, Krones with localised customer service. We had and have the right product at the right time: PET know-how, in particular aseptic know-how. For the cost sensitive and mid-size Chinese customer we also have hot fill. Both markets are rising.” Machine population 400 blowers are installed today, approx. 50% blocked, especially all recent deliveries (in 2006 it was 50 blowers). Market share is rising. Krones themselves tell us that they supply 50 custom- ers in China. 15 of these are the “big boys“ in the market. This remarkable development since 2006 is accompanied by the fact that there are also 6,000 Krones stand-alone machines for the local service team to look after. In 2006 the figure was 2,000. We at PETplanet have ceased to be amazed at this explosion in orders and content ourselves with simply reporting the facts. However, some pertinent questions are in order: PETplanet: The huge order intake and the optimistic forecasts of today – might they be concealing the risk that the company is building up its personnel resources which could prove to be an embarrassment should business start to decline? Christian Blatt: The volatility relates to Germany which is where the greater part of the machinery comes from. There it is possible to compensate for the market cycles. Here in Taicang, where we are, the service carries on – with and without new deliveries. Spares are needed and retro-fits. Our organization stands by the customers, now as always, regardless of the temperature of current busi- ness”. Organisation A team of representatives run field offices throughout the country – coming under the responsibility of the overall German sales team – with around 80 people. At the Taicang location the “Machines“ and “Trading” teams sum up to a total of approx. 350 persons.The PET Centre is subdivided into two specialist groups:  The PET Department for R&D of PET bottles, for manufacturing tools, prototyping, trouble shooting and enhanced service.  The Aseptic Department for start-up and commissioning of the installations at the customer’s premises, for vali- dation and re-validation. A plant tour During the past few years the factory has been extended twice and there has been a considerable growth in the production area. On the day of our visit there were four block installations in final assembly. Annual output: 60 machines (Krones count). Impressive features included in particular the fleet of machines for manufacturing blow moulds in a fully air-con- ditioned bay – this to control the tolerances, thus ensuring quality. Capacity: 250 blow moulds per year. (With refer- ence to a noteworthy, particular and spectacular Krones project in Tibet read PETplanet issue 6/2006 and 4/2010.) Lei Lei, CC Officer, Krones China