Heidelberg aims to further strengthen its leading competitive position in the growth market of China and has therefore set up a production joint venture with its long-standing partner and strategic anchor shareholder Masterwork Group. Heidelberg will benefit from the closer cooperation in the value-added chain between the two companies, particularly at its production site near Shanghai. The two companies also expect the expansion of their strategic cooperation through joint parts production by the joint venture at Masterwork’s site in Tianjin to open up substantial opportunities for boosting efficiency.
“The manufacturing joint venture with Masterwork is a further milestone in the successful cooperation between the two companies and opens up additional opportunities for Heidelberg in China,” said Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of Heidelberg. “With a sales volume of around 300 million Euro, China is Heidelberg’s most important single market in the graphic arts industry. We have increasingly strengthened our leading market position by expanding our range of products at our production site near Shanghai. The increasing purchase of locally manufactured parts will significantly increase our competitiveness in this growth market.
Under the terms of the cooperation agreement, the joint venture will take over some of the machine parts previously manufactured by Heidelberg. The main customers are Heidelberg Graphics Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., as the local Group company in China, and Masterwork and its affiliated companies. Production is scheduled to start at Masterwork’s new and innovative site in Tianjin at the beginning of 2021.
“The joint venture between MK and Heidelberg is a very important step in the strategic development of both sides. Our common goal is to provide high-quality, cost-effective and intelligent products for the market to better meet and service customer needs,” says Masterwork President Li Li. “Through this cooperation, the joint venture will introduce the most advanced management, production and manufacturing technologies, all of which are based on Industry 4.0. In addition, various processing centers representing the world’s most advanced level will also be put into use in the joint venture to ensure the best performance and maintain the same high-quality standards as Heidelberg. We firmly believe that the joint venture will live up to the expectations, especially the quality requirements. Finally, we are very happy with this cooperation. By learning from Heidelberg, Masterwork will surely upgrade to a new and higher level of manufacturing and production skills worldwide.”
A total of around 900 Heidelberg employees work in China, around 450 of them in sales and service. This puts Heidelberg in a good position to take advantage of growth opportunities in China and Asia in the future and to further develop and secure these markets for Heidelberg. Two branches in Beijing and Hong Kong and three offices in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen ensure comprehensive customer support on site. Together with Masterwork, China’s largest manufacturer of die cutters and hot foil embossing presses and a long-standing sales partner, Heidelberg also aims to significantly expand its market position in the growing packaging printing sector.
