With effect from 1 January 2014, Windmoeller & Hoelscher has set up its own subsidiary in the Far East . The Windmoeller & Hoelscher Machinery (Taicang). With this step we want to improve our proximity to the Chinese market while also documenting the importance we attach to this ever growing market, a successful development in which W&H would like to participate, explains Jurgen Vutz, chairman of the W&H Management Board, and managing director Peter Steinbeck.
The official inauguration of the new branch was celebrated with a grand opening party on the 23 April 2014, the evening of the first day of Chinaplas. About 200 customers from all over China were invited and together with W&H employees enjoyed not just excellent food, but also a varied evening program that strictly followed Chinese tradition. Drummers opened the ceremony, a masked dancer presented elements of the Szechuan Opera and there had to be a Chinese lion. Under the expert guidance of the Chinese moderator, Jurgen Vutz and Michael Fischer, managing director of W&H Asia-Pacific, symbolically opened its eyes, to bring the new company luck and prosperity. The new W&H branch is located in Taicang, about 50 kilometre from the centre of Shanghai. Acting as a sales and service centre, W&H Machinery (Taicang) will take on all tasks and activities that were handled by Johs. Rieckermann, W&H’s longtime representative in China. The Rieckermann staff so far in charge of W&H affairs has been taken over by the new W&H subsidiary to ensure continuity for W&H customers in China. This also goes for the Management Board, general manager Jinghui Dai, sales manager Klaus Meyer and service manager George Yang, all of whom do have experience in the Chinese market. W&H Machinery (Taicang) will take care of new machinery sales as well as spare and replacement parts for the complete W&H sales program, another domain being the service sector, including the installation of new equipment as well as maintenance and repair. In the future, blown film die service and customer training courses and others will be offered on site. The response from our Chinese customers in the first few months after the opening of W&H Taicang has been very positive, says Jinghui Dai. Customers recognize our commitment and appreciate having their supplier on site now, and we appreciate and welcome it. We are convinced that this will strengthen our position in the Chinese market significantly.
