The Rapid Growth of BEUMER Machinery Co., LTD - Conquering the Chinese Market

After two years, the BEUMER Group can look back on a rapid period of growth for its Chinese subsidiary, BEUMER Machinery Co., Ltd. in Shanghai. This marks another milestone in the successful growth of the global presence for the internationally active company: a fourfold increase in turnover at the specialist for intralogistic material handling solutions heralds the conquest of the Chinese and Mongolian markets. In the cement business in particular, the Chinese subsidiary benefits from the vibrant growth of the cement market in Asia.

BEUMER Machinery Co., Ltd. in Shanghai achieves around 70 percent of its turnover through the development and production of bucket elevators and steel cell conveyors for the cement industry. In this area, the Chinese subsidiary concentrates on customers from the top ten suppliers in the cement industry. These include cement suppliers like Anhui Conch and Jidong.

High quality standards expected in China

The cornerstone of the success experienced by BEUMER Machinery Co., LTD in Shanghai lies primarily in the high quality of its installations and in reliable and solid business partnerships, trusted by clients worldwide. Even with its installations, produced to German quality standards, figuring consequently at the top end of the Chinese price range, Chinese customers are poised for paying this premium.
Dr. Christoph Beumer, chairman of the board and managing partner at the BEUMER Group, sees the roots of its success in China not least in its local customer service: “Every client expects to be given the best personal service from his supplier. Individual support on site can only be provided if I speak the language of my client, if I know the culture of my client and if I am accustomed to the business world of my client. In China, Chinese people are the best choice for this, in India, it is Indians, in Russia, Russians. Therefore, we will continue to pursue our strategy of serving our clients locally, wherever they are. The reactions of our markets to our strategy have been emphatically positive”, as Dr. Beumer explains the global corporate strategy of the BEUMER Group.
Around 180 members of staff are employed at BEUMER Machinery Co., Ltd. in Shanghai under the management of Dipl. Ing. Norbert Stemich, a majority of whom have received months of training in Germany at the company’s headquarters in Beckum.

Sales portfolio

Apart from its orders from the cement industry (70 percent), the turnover of the BEUMER subsidiary in China is made up by 10 percent of orders in the area of sortation and distribution technology, and 20 percent coming from sheet metal forming. In the area of sortation and distribution technology, the company primarily supplies baggage handlers at airports. For this product line alone, the BEUMER subsidiary had to provide two additional production halls.

BEUMER Machinery Co., Ltd. intends to establish a firm base in the Chinese markets with its three product lines of conveying, loading, palletizing and packaging technology as well as sortation and distribution technology. The latter field of sortation and distribution technology will see a particular reinforcement over the coming years. As a result of the fast growth of the Chinese domestic market, retail spending, and thus the mail order business, is increasing. The demand for parcel and courier services will grow accordingly.

High demand for palletizing and packaging solutions

The BEUMER Group anticipates a similar increase in the demand for palletizing and packaging technology in the Chinese market. The trend towards automation in intralogistics is gaining more and more ground in Asia. At the same time, Chinese labour laws are changing in favour of the Chinese worker. This will increase demand for intralogistics installations that can be operated fully automatically. BEUMER Machinery Co., Ltd. plans to add a further production hall for the continued expansion of its sortation and distribution as well as palletizing and packaging technology. With this measure, the company will react to the increase in demand and prepare itself for future expansion.
With such rapid growth of the Chinese market and the consequent increasing number of orders, the workforce in China will be also be expanded. As a rule, the BEUMER Group invests in the thorough and conscientious training of its staff. This allows the company to guarantee high product quality according to German standards.