Mould Design ‘in’ Ningbo
A few weeks ago I went to a ‘Dies & Moulds’ exhibition here in Ningbo to get a bit of an overview of the market, perhaps make some contacts, or even spot some opportunities for collaboration… I don’t want to talk about the exhibition here… although, thinking about it, I think I could put quite an interesting article together summarising my experiences at exhibitions in Ningbo.
Anyway, at this exhibition I was kindly invited to visit a Machinery & Moulds company in Ningbo. When following that invitation, it turned out dimensions here in China are not the same as in Germany and certainly not as in England.
“In Ningbo”, in this case meant going by car for about 2h before reaching the factory (on the way back we took a ferry across the sea…for some reason this was not necessary on the way to the factory…). The place we visited still belongs to the Ningbo Municipal Area and might also have the same area-phone-code (0574…), however, it cannot be called part of the City Ningbo anymore (click on the map to see the route, http://maps.google.com).
Nevermind, the factory was located in the Xiangshan Industrial Zone. Xiangshan is basically a big industrial city conglomerating an even bigger amount of industry related to Machining, Dies and Moulds as well as Moulding. Honestly, I think the whole town is built around this industry.
During our meeting we introduced UNNC and the NIMRC and discussed general ways of cooperation and one specific research proposal. The company is privately owned and employs more than 120 people (according to their company brochure, I did not see that many during our visit). The business serves mainly Chinese customers but their reference list shows also a few international names (USA, Italy, Spain, France, and Japan), e.g. IVECO or John Deere.
Following an interesting tour through the design offices and the shopfloor, we were kindly taken out for lunch (mainly delicous seafood, although I have a feeling that frozen raw crab will not become one of my favourite dishes) during which we, in a more informal way, discussed current challenges and chances that Chinese companies are facing during the current economic crisis. It was mentioned that some enterprises are busier now because some of their competitors were pushed out of the market through the crisis.
After lunch we were taken to the buidling site of the new factory (which includes housing for more than 200 workers- shared rooms).
Finally, before leaving, we were surprised by some very beautyful scenic spots when we were taken on a brief tour to the closeby shores and beaches.
