„The Japanese market continues to gain importance for us," says Gero Willmeroth, Regional President East Asia and Oceania at ENGEL. „Innovative processing technologies and the digitalisation of injection moulding processes are key issues for plastics processors. The own subsidiary allows us to better support our customers in these particularly consulting-intensive topics and to respond more quickly and flexibly to local requirements."
ENGEL has worked together with the trading company Correns Corporation in Japan for many years. Customers have been personally informed about the change over the past few weeks. „The trust our customers place in us is high, and this step will further strengthen that trust. The investment in Tokyo underlines our commitment to the Japanese market," says Willmeroth.
Yuji Takeda takes over as Managing Director
The Managing Director of ENGEL Japan KK is Yuji Takeda, who brings experience with ENGEL injection moulding machines and technologies to his new position. His job began on 1 October 2019. In addition to a service technician, he has an assistant on board. In the second quarter of this year, a service technician from ENGEL in Austria will move to Japan to accompany the development of the subsidiary during the first few years.
Customers in Japan include both small local businesses and large corporations. In particular, international companies with headquarters in Japan will benefit from the new structure. With more than 30 subsidiaries, ENGEL has a worldwide presence and can support its customers in international projects with its own employees who have direct access to the entire company know-how.
On-site production and know-how in Asia
ENGEL is the only western injection moulding machine manufacturer to produce the entire range of machines in three plants in Asia and operates an own automation centre on site. For customers in Asia, this ensures short delivery times and flexible adaptation of the products to the specific requirements of the region. ENGEL also develops highly integrated and automated system solutions with local know-how. In many cases, this speeds up project planning.
Since it was founded in 1945, ENGEL has been 100 percent family-owned and independent of external investors. This has provided stability and a dependable long-term perspective. The ENGEL Group generated sales of 1.6 billion euros in the 2018/19 financial year and employs approximately 6,900 staff worldwide.