“I was honoured to deliver the keynote at this landmark event with so many Asian foundry associations present,” says Mr Wei. “Our industry is developing fast but, with growth in our region poised to explode, we must work even harder to compete effectively and fully benefit. Investing in modern equipment and digital tools is the best way to achieve this.”
Wei Baohua, Norican’s Group’s senior vice president for Asia Pacific, delivered the keynote speech at the Asian Foundry Industry Development and Cooperation Summit last week – the largest gathering of the region’s foundrymen for the last two years.
Organised by the China Foundry Association, the Asian Foundry Industry Development and Cooperation Summit and the 2nd Asian Foundry Association Annual Meeting took place in Shenyang, North China, from 22-25 October, 2021. Along with China, the event was attended by all the key regional foundry associations: India, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan and Mongolia.
Profit from the post-Covid economic boom
In his keynote, Mr Wei said that GDP will grow quickly across the entire Asia-Pacific region as ASEAN nations bounce back from Covid. The RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) free trade agreement, signed in 2020, will further stimulate economic development.
Rising demand will see foundries return to growth, with regional car ownership assisting those that supply automotive manufacturers. More lightweight vehicles and 5G mobile expansion will push aluminium die casting demand higher. But there are challenges too: market competition is increasing as the US and Europe are re-industrialising.
“To exploit this major opportunity and stay ahead, foundries need to increase output, raise productivity, reduce scrap and downtime, and cut energy use,” says Mr Wei. “But finding those improvements is very hard with old equipment and obsolete technology. Our industry is also struggling to find skilled workers while improving sustainability and controlling carbon emissions are becoming mandatory.”
Norican – complete foundry solutions, local support
Mr Wei emphasised that the Norican China team and all four Norican technologies (DISA, ItalPresseGauss, StrikoWesthofen and Wheelabrator) are completely devoted to supporting ASEAN foundries as they invest and expand.
Norican Group’s advanced digital technology, deep experience and localised regional support makes it the ultimate APAC foundry solution provider. Throughout the pandemic, Norican has committed maximum effort to supplying and installing numerous complete, turnkey iron and aluminium foundries, state-of-the-art shot-blast and light alloy melting equipment, and Asia-manufactured green sand moulding and die casting machines.
“Despite significant challenges, our regional networks delivered multiple major projects and kept supporting thousands of our customers in China, Taiwan, Korea and all the other countries we operate in,” says Mr Wei. “The 100th DISAMATIC D3 moulding machine was installed in Thailand and, over the last two years, we’ve proved our Monitizer platform is the digital solution our industry trusts to reduce scrap and improve profitability.”
Investing in Asian support and manufacturing
After more than 20 years of manufacturing and operating in Asia, Norican continues to expand its APAC footprint. In 2020, it opened its new production base in Changzhou and delivered the first locally-manufactured ItalPresseGauss TF1850 high-pressure die-casting machine. The company is planning to produce its entire range of die-casting machines at the facility, where it also manufactures DISA moulding equipment and where a new R&D centre is now under development.
“Norican is determined to keep investing in its manufacturing, support and service supply chain across the Asia Pacific region, helping our customers to turn their business ambitions into reality,” said Mr Wei. “For foundries seeking real long-term competitive advantage, our equipment offers the most advanced technology, particularly in digital, but also the most reliable quality and sustainability, plus rock-solid support throughout its production life.”