K2019: KraussMaffei re-brands machinery offerings

Machinery group KraussMaffei, which is a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned chemical firm ChemChina, has merged its Injection Moulding, Extrusion and Reaction Process technologies under a single brand.

The first German company listed on the Chinese stock market, KraussMaffei is also the world’s only provider of solutions for injection moulding, extrusion and reaction process technology. It is now consolidating all business divisions and its previous brands of KraussMaffei, KraussMaffei Berstorff and Netstal within a single brand.

Frank Stieler, CEO of KraussMaffei, speaking to journalists at a preK2019 event in Dusseldorf, said the repositioning is in line with the firm’s “Compass” corporate strategy, which has already brought about changes with the launch of the Digital & Service Solutions (DSS) business unit.

Stieler, who is the only German CEO of a Chinese-listed company, said all subsidiaries and locations will operate under the name “KraussMaffei” from now on.

Netstal-Maschinen AG (Näfels/Switzerland) will be known as “KraussMaffei High Performance AG”. Its injection moulding machinery will be integrated into the KraussMaffei portfolio under the Netstal product brand, which means the Netstal name will still appear on the machinery itself.

The KraussMaffei Berstorff brand for Extrusion technology will now be known as “KraussMaffei Extrusion GmbH”.

With a new corporate design to be unveiled to a wider audience at K2019, the Munich-based firm says it is reinventing itself with its new motto: Pioneering Plastics.

Bought by ChemChina for almost EUR1 billion in 2016, KraussMaffei completed its listing on the Shanghai stock exchange in December 2018. The listing occurred through the transfer of ChemChina’s stake in KraussMaffei to ChemChina’s majority owned subsidiary THY (Qingdao Tianhua Institute of Chemistry Engineering), which is listed on the Shanghai stock exchange.