According to Berstorff, Chinese need only two years' life from a machine

According to Berstorff, Chinese need only two years' life from a machine

Chinese processors are demanding low-cost machinery with short life, according to Berstorff managing director Manfred Reichel. At a K2004 press launch last week, at which Berstorff announced a low-cost twin-screw extruder, Reichel told PRW.com: “To be successful in China, the European or German quality is needed, but extruders don’t have to be built to last 20 years, as for German customers.”

Reichel drew a parallel with injection moulding machines in the Chinese market. He said Berstorff and Mannesmann Plastics Machinery had visited the world’s largest injection moulding machinery maker, Haitian in Ningbo, China, and learnt it makes machines costing only 30%-35% of the equivalent German machines. However, it admitted that some parts wear out after two years and have to be replaced.

According to Reichel, a typical Chinese customer would say: “Sorry, I only want to produce the product for two years, so deliver me a machine that works and does just that.”