In an attempt to further strengthen its position in the growth market of China, Heidelberg has set up a production joint venture with its long-standing partner and strategic anchor shareholder Masterwork.
Masterwork is one of China’s largest manufacturer of die cutters and hot foil embossing presses and a long-standing partner of Heidelberg.
Heidelberg said it 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,” Heidelberg CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer said.
“With a sales volume of around €300 million, 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 see Masterwork take over some of the machine parts previously manufactured by Heidelberg. Production is scheduled to start at Masterwork’s new site in Tianjin at the beginning of 2021.
“The joint venture between Masterwork 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,” Masterwork president Li Li said.
“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.”
According to Heidelberg, this move also puts the business 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.
Together with Masterwork, Heidelberg also aims to significantly expand its market position in the growing packaging printing sector.
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