Once a year not too often, say CeMAT Asia

Despite such pressure, organisers Deutsche Messe and its subsidiary Hannover Fairs Shanghai, wasted no time in announcing dates for its 2008 event, when a return to the Shanghai New Int’l Expo Centre is scheduled for 27-30 October.

It also used this year’s show to circulate word about CeMAT India, which will take place at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre from 4-7 December, further emphasising the time and cost pressures of the international trade show schedule, which is close to saturation point.

Manufacturing giant Demag, for example, didn’t exhibit, but did have representatives of the company on the show floor. Yun Wang, director – sales and marketing, Demag Cranes & Components (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., said: “We attempted some other marketing activities in order to promote the company this year. We have shown at some smaller but more specific exhibitions in order to reach potential new customers.”

For example, he added, “we attended a wind-to-energy exhibition in April, a plastic and injection exhibtion in June, and a big mechnical and electrical equipment exhibition in September, in Shenyang. And we have seen positive feedback from those exhibitions.”

Demag insisted, however, that CeMAT Asia is “still one of our major options for next year.”

A year isn’t a long time in the factory lifting business and, after a busy and energetic opening day, things slowed down to expose what was largely the same show as the previous year.

Exciting though the Chinese lifting business is (it is expected to achieve 25-30% growth this calendar year compared to last, and is expected to achieve 10-15% growth the following two years) there was not a massive amount of new products on show and the flow of conversation was largely the same as it was 12 months ago.

Widespread demand

Liqun Xiao, the secretary general of the Material Handling Council of China (MHCC), agrees that the show is held too often but he was keeping up appearances. He said: “Almost every kind of lifting equipment is in demand in China. Most factories have to work overtime and some crane manufacturers work continuously to meet order demand.”

One noteworthy new product available to visitors was the ER2 hoist from Kito, already available in native Japan, but will start to appear in the Chinese market from next April. The unit features an emergency stop pushbutton, upper and lower limit friction clutch with limit switch, plus high-frequency response of 60% duty factor, it added. The unit was showcased in a glass box at the front of the stand, as you’d expect it to be, but such emphasis on new products was hardly commonplace around the aisles.

Taiwan-based Yoke Industrial Corp. presented its new hoist ring, “providing dependable lifting and lashing means for ease of use when lifting heavy loads of different materials and shapes,” it says.

Due to its ball bearing construction, Yoke hoist rings rotate freely through 360 degrees and are available for loads from 4-40t with a designed safety factor of 5:1.

The rings have been proof tested to 2.5 times working load limit. Yoke adds that units are “easy to install (need only one tap hole) and are available in bushing and ball bearing” versions.

From the west

US-based Gorbel opened a Chinese facility in May 2006, where four people were located from the outset. There are a number of ways people can approach the Chinese market. For example, with overhead cranes it might be possible to go direct to the customers but with work station cranes Gorbel believes it needs contacts. Scope for work station cranes here is huge – spanning across assembly and machinery industries.

It was a more low-key affair for Konecranes this time around, which used its stand to display its “whole product range,” now available throughout China. This was a different approach to the previous two years where it had focused on the opening of its new Chinese facility (2005) and its new corporate logo (2006).

Stahl (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. showed a range of wheel blocks, inverter controls, explosion-proof wire rope and chain hoists and a dual hook chain hoist.

Victor Low, general manager, said it would have been a missed opportunity not to be at the show with at least 10% growth being witnessed every year in the Chinese hoist market.

He added that with Asia being one of the “hotspots of our industry,” an annual event is justified. “However,” he continued, “depending on workload and availability of resources (mainly man-power) we will decide year by year whether we participate with a booth of our own or not. We did in 2005, but skipped the 2006 exhibition and were back again this year.”

Global sales director Werner Wagner from the headquarters in Germany joined Low on the stand to support the local team.

Stahl CraneSystems reiterated the point that the lower end of the market is still dominated by domestic products, “but we think that there is still a lot of room for growth with high-end technology.” This is the case with wire rope hoists over 10t capacity, it said, engineered solutions and explosion protected crane equipment.

It concluded: “Marketing opportunities are also excellent for chain hoists. Our chain hoists are very popular in the automotive sector in Europe and we will certainly target this growing industry in China.”

Dutch mobile power feed system manufacturer Akapp-Stemmann BV showed its click-ductor range, an enclosed conductorbar with jointed copper, and also showed a new open conductor for up to 10 poles, called the pro-ductor.

Drive manufacturer ABM Greiffenberger Antriebstechnik GmbH, meanwhile, used the show to publicise the opening of its Chinese subsidiary located in Suzhou, not far from Shanghai. Production at the 1,250 sq m facility will begin in January next year.

It also showed a range of travel drives and its new GH 3201 – the smallest of its GH hoist drive units. Similarly to the four bigger GH hoist drive units, the 3201 offers lifting speeds of 4, 5, 6, 3 and 8m/min at FEM 2m service for loads up to 3.2t (four falls).

It can be equipped with 12/2 pole asynchronous cylinder rotor motors with specific hoist characteristics as well as with inverter-controlled four pole hoist motors.

It also offers the direct mounting of the rope drum and thus allows a U-shaped design of the hoist for “compact and space-saving assembly.”

ABM also showed a new range of frequency inverters in the range of 0.75 to 11 kW.

Yale Industrial Products GmbH exhibited a range of products, including its overload prevention devices, Model D85 (with link chain) and Model C85 (with roller chain). Lifting equipment included its Pul-Lift D95, which comes with a sling chain and overload protection device as an option. A series of ratchet lever and hand chain hoists were also showed alongside electric trolleys and clamps.

Abus arrived in China in 1997. Sales manager Davy He called China the “world’s centre for manufacturing.” Abus exhibited electric chain hoists up to 4t capacity – the GM2, GM4, GM6 and GM8 – which it launched into the Chinese market at the previous show.

Remote firm Itowa, from Spain, opted to stay away from China and will instead exhibit in India. Flying the flag in the Spanish pavilion was crane and hoist manufacturer Industrias Electromecanicas GH, which, earlier this year, installed four cranes at Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) NV (HCME)’s new production plant in Amsterdam, Holland.

German-based NBB Controls & Components AG now has a facility in Shanghai, which it opened towards the end of last year, but it was not unique in not having new products on the stand.

Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) CEO John Nofsinger said CeMAT Asia is a “must visit” event in the region. The MHIA stand attracted visitors all week.

Remote controls

Tele Radio, which was represented on the stand by president Bertil Gorling, exhibited its new T70 system, which is specially design for the Chinese and American markets. “The T70 will be used for hoist applications with competitive price and efficient functionity,” it said.

Also new to China is the so-called Jaguar ESB transmitter with four, six or eight functions depending on the transmitter version. Units include, among other features:

– stop switch for quick and safe shut down

– possibility to control two receivers, independently or simultaneously

– three standard AA batteries

– 64 channels, narrow band 433-434MHz

“In the past year, we have set up long-term business relationships with many Chinese customers and sales are improving all the time,” said Bill Sun, managing director, Tele Radio Asia (HK) Co. Ltd.

Fellow remote firm Fomotech launched its A4000 transmitter series to the Chinese market. The unit is equipped with either eight or 12 pushbuttons and comes with upgraded waterproof functions. Additional functions, available upon request, are:

– infrared initial start-up

– catch and release (pitch and catch)

– tandem (dual crane)

It explained that the desired functions can be set via software.

Also on the stand were the A500, A3000 and A5000 units, the latter being available with up to 14 relays, two joysticks and optional push-buttons.

Karl-Heinz Gunther, director of sales at HBC-radiomatic, presented a “completely renovated” product range for the industrial market place. For example, its new transmitters, technos and spectrum 1D offer the operator feedback on the weight of the load. Furthermore, it showed new handheld transmitters, such as micron 6 (shown last year) offering feedback of weight and a renovated version of the transmitter micron 4 with up to 10 push buttons. New receivers were also shown, as well as some additional new features.

Italian remote manufacturer Autec launched two new units earlier this year, the MK10-14 pushbutton and the Master/Slave system, both from the Modular series. The latter is available either with MK handset or MJ joystick unit.

The 10-button model is an enhanced version of the established MK10 model with a compact and robust receiver with 12 commands. “The switching power supply makes the unit tolerant against voltage surging and allows a wide range of rated power supply,” said Autec. Additionally, the materials and the protection degree (IP65) used for the construction allows for installation in extreme environmental conditions.

The new MK10-14 is equipped with a redundant stop contact available individually, while an optional PLC module allows the development of specialised machine control systems.

In brief

Hangzhou Zheqi Cranes Co. Ltd. exhibited its ZH series wire rope hoist, which it launched at last year’s exhibition. The hoist’s gearbox is inside the drum and has added benefits deriving from its “compact structure and small dimensions”. Its LDH single girder crane, LZH double girder crane and ZH wire rope series are among other highlights of its product range. The company also supplies crab buckets and other components.

Yu Chiang Machinery Co. Ltd. showcased its wire rope and electric chain hoists, the former capable of lifting from FEM 1Am to 2m, it said. Other features include an over-winding prevention device and carbon steel forged hooks. Also featured were monorail hoists in single and two-speed, double rail (again, in single and two-speed) and low headroom lifting equipment.

Dennis Wong, the director of China-based Vitali International Lifting Equipment Ltd., didn’t attend the exhibition in person but his firm showed a range of chain and lever hoists, including its so-called Kit-V Type lever hoist. The model is available in 1 and 2.5t units. “The unit is lightweight and compact and the patented friction disc design means no brake discs are required,” it said.

The unit includes a grade 100 galvanized load chain. Each chain block is operationally tested at 1.5 times rated capacity. The hand wheel and knob design means no preload is required. Also on show was the Yal Type lever hoist, available in 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75t capacity.

TBM Lifting & Chain, Zhejiang Shuangniao Machinery Co. Ltd. exhibited its range of electric and manual chain hoists and wire rope hoists. Its HHXG electric chain hoist comes in 0.5, 1, 2 and 3t capacity, depending on the model, all of which lift to 3m. The HSZ-A 623 chain block series, meanwhile, ranges from 0.25 to 20t capacity with lifting heights also up to 3m. The highest capacity unit (HSZ-20A) has eight strands of load chain.

The SHH hook suspension electric chain hoist, suitable for “high classification” work, was also on show.

Additionally, TBM showed its HSH-A 619 series lever block, ranging in capacity from 0.75 to 9t and the smaller lever range offering lifting capacity to 0.5t, among a raft of other components and clamps.

Bando launched its 150t capacity Ceo Hoist 900 at last year’s event, which was again supplemented with a range of other products on the stand. The unit was new from the head office in Korea around 18 months ago and is imported into China. The hoist is used with a hook and, thus, will be pitched to a variety of industries. Bando highlighted its “compact size, lower price and ease of maintenance” as key advantages to other similar units on the market.

Shanghai New-Tronics M&E Ltd. Co. had a range of products on its stand, including lifting gear from Ingersoll Rand.

Japanese manufacturer Elephant Chain Block Co. Ltd. exhibited for the first time outside its homeland at CeMAT Asia 2006, and returned this year, with a similar stand, while Black Bear showed its electric wire rope hoists, including the TUIID-2000, lifting to 20t capacity.

cematasia 19 Japanese manufacturer Elephant Chain Block Co., Ltd. exhibited for the first time outside its homeland at CeMAT Asia 2006, and returned this year, with a similar stand cematasia 18 Organiser Deutsche Messe and its subsidiary Hannover Fairs Shanghai, wasted no time in announcing dates for its 2008 event, when a return to the Shanghai New Int’l Expo Centre is scheduled for 27-30 October cematasia 16 Stahl (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. showed a range of wheel blocks, inverter controls, explosion-proof wire rope and chain hoists and a dual hook chain hoist cematasia 15 Italian remote manufacturer Autec attracts visitors to its stand cematasia 14 TBM Lifting & Chain, Zhejiang Shuangniao Machinery Co. Ltd. exhibited its range of electric and manual chain hoists and wire rope hoists cematasia 13 Konecranes’ new corporate logo, in which the ‘c’ is titled to resemble a hook, was launched at the 2006 event and used on this year’s stand cematasia 11 Kito’s ER2 hoist is already available in native Japan, but will not start to appear in the Chinese market until next April cematasia 9 Vitali International Lifting Equipment Ltd. showed a range of lever hoists cematasia 8 Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) CEO John Nofsinger said CeMAT Asia is a ‘must visit’ event in the region. The MHIA stand attracted visitors all week. cematasia 7 Kito’s new ER2 hoist attracts interest from passers by cematasia 5 ‘In the past year, we have set up long-term business relationships with many Chinese customers and sales are improving all the time,’ said Bill Sun, managing director, Tele Radio Asia (HK) Co. Ltd. cematasia 4 Fomotech launched its A4000 transmitter series to the Chinese market. The unit is equipped with either eight or 12 pushbuttons and comes with upgraded waterproof functions cematasia 2