Business & people
Engel introduces Wintec to Mexico
작성자 : Editor
2019-04-22 |
조회 : 1710
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| David Liu, area sales manager, left, and Michael Feltes, president - sales and service for Wintec at Plastimagen 2019. |
Engel de Mexico showed the Wintec injection molding press to a Mexican trade show audience for the first time at Plastimagen 2019.
Wintec presses, made in China, are a lower-cost line from the high-end Engel brand of molding machines, executives of Engel and Wintec said at Engel's news conference at Plastimagen.
At the show, a Wintec t-win press with 650 metric tons of clamping force molded carrying cases — a popular giveaway item at the show.
Austria-based Engel set up Wintec in China as a separate brand about five years ago. At first, Wintec focused its sales efforts on Asia. But Wintec President Michael Feltes said the company is expanding its global reach — now to Mexico.
Talking about Mexico's big automotive sector, Feltes said Wintec presses are typically used by Tier 2 and Tier 3 molders. The company targets other types of molding as well.
Feltes explained the difference between Wintec and Engel injection molding machines:
"Engel is known for highly engineered, very technical, very complex machines, and there comes a price tag with such high-tech equipment. But there is a huge market for injection molding machines globally that doesn't require all those special features and options," Feltes said.
He said Engel was faced with two options: Make a lower-end product that has the Engel name, or create a product and market as a separate brand.
"We chose to market it as a different brand, simply because the customer base is a totally different one," Feltes said. "The people who buy Wintec products, they are more short-term oriented companies and projects. The Engel customers buy project-oriented equipment."
Peter Auinger, general director of Engel de Mexico in Querétaro, echoed those comments, saying: "We try not to compete with each other. We will not compete at the same time, for the same project, Wintec and Engel."
Feltes said Wintec presses "are more simple" than Engel machines, which come with thousands of special options. Wintec presses have about 200 options — far fewer than Engel but more than competing Asian machines molding machines that typically come with 70 to 120 options.
"All the [Wintec] machines are standardized. They're highly configured, with a very small degree of engineering, for customer orders. This way we can also lower the price to the market," Feltes said.
"Wintec have quality, but are more simple in configuration," he said.
Another strong point for Wintec customers — access to Engel's large global spare parts and service operations, which Feltes said employ 1,000 people at five hubs, including in Mexico and the United States. Parts typically can be delivered in 24 to 48 hours.
Plastimagen visitors to Engel's booth also could see a 160-tonne Engel e-cap press turning out caps.
