Hekuma expects China to support growth in Asia

Germany-based automation company Hekuma, a company of the elexis Group, that entered the Chinese market three years ago and generates sales of EUR3 million there, expects to double its turnover in another three years, said CEO Bernhard Rupke, speaking to journalists at a pre-K2016 event in Germany.

“China is the market of the future and it is here to stay, especially in our target markets of medical, automotive and consumer goods.”

“Chinese companies are realising that high performance automation is required in the medical market. With the automotive industry, there are some big players that are ready to pick up the technology and work with us,” he added.

In the medical sector, the company offers the Petri Dish LITE system, as well as its modular series HEKUflex, engineered especially for local manufacturers of pipette tips.

“I am convinced that we have developed exactly the right product for the Asian market with the HEKUflex series since it allows for flexibility. An investment need no longer be a huge one-time expense, but instead can be made step-by-step as the success of a product grows. This allows more latitude in planning.”

For the automotive market, Rupke says that as it is booming, quality requirements are increasing to Western levels and many German automotive suppliers are already represented with production locations and subsidiaries. “We have been relocating our customers’ large systems from Germany to China more frequently than ever. Our customers expect to see our service and sales presence here as well.” In line with this, Hekuma has set up a sales and service subsidiary in Shanghai.

And just like how it has tie-ups for its systems with European injection moulding machinery makers in Europe, it is looking to replicate this in the Chinese market. “We are in discussions with Chinese injection moulding machine maker Haitian,” shared Rupke, adding that Hekuma’s systems are used by European transplants in China as well.

The 40 year-old company offers complex grippers for high performance insert and takeout robots for the injection moulding process as well as the development of turnkey customised solutions or production concept development, such as HEKUflex and Sigma inside.