Friedrichshafen, Germany — Last year, China got a head start. By the time the rest of the world was battling what turned into a crippling pandemic, China had already managed to suppress the worst of its initial outbreak.

Able to work at 100 percent capacity when no one else could worked very much to Haitian International's advantage, said Niels Herz, sales manager for Germany at Haitian.

"As a German subsidiary of our Chinese mother company, we had machines in stock at our plant in Germany. During that period, some segments — packaging and medical, for example — boomed. Desperate for machines, the companies in those sectors were looking for someone to supply new machines, and we were the ones who could do it," he said.

China has undergone an incredible technological development in the past 20 years. It is no longer the low-cost production country of even 10 years ago.

The level of production automation in the country is incredible, said Herz. "It's all machines building machines."

Haitian, he added, is focusing on full automation and has partnered with Huawei on that. "We just launched a new facility — a 'smart factory' in South China — where it's only robots doing all the work," he said.

The market share in Europe has grown tremendously over the past six years. Since the creation of Haitian International in Europe, there are countries — Italy is one — where Haitian has already grown to become the market leader. "And globally, Haitian has a market share of around 50 percent," Herz said.

He added that Germany and Japan were the two markets that were most difficult in the world to gain any traction at all. Made in China, as all of Haitian's machines are, was, for a very long time, not a recommendation.

"But in 2015, when the Haitian and Zhafir brands came together in Haitian International, acceptance of the Haitian machines started taking off in Germany, so it was apparently the right time to enter that market," he noted.

"We used to get parts from China and assembled in Germany in order to carry a Made in Germany label. But this is no longer important," he added.

Germany is the youngest market for Haitian in Europe.

"People are realizing that we can produce high-end, sophisticated machines that can handle even highly sensitive applications. This is also what we are showing the market here at Fakuma," Herz said.

This year alone, Haitian International will deliver around 50,000 machines. The past year, said Herz, will be a record year in Europe — and a record year in Germany for Haitian.

It took six years to get to this point. "People now understand that it's not about price alone, but about the price quality ratio — and we probably have the best," he said.

Haitian produces machines with clamping forces ranging from an electric 40-metric-ton machine, up to a large-sized hydraulic 6,000-tonne machine. And if a customer needs more, the company can even go up to 8,000 tonnes, according to Herz.

The company is touting this flexibility at the Fakuma show, as one of three highlights. "Efficiency and connectivity are the other two," said Herz.

Haitian has developed software called Connectivity Plus, a feature designed to make the machines compatible with a wide range of automation and interface options, including manufacturing execution systems and all common Euromap interfaces.

The efficiency theme is centered on energy savings.

"Haitian produces all its own servo motors and drives and the most energy-saving machines on the market," Herz said. "And we produce electric machines in a range that nobody else can produce in Europe."

Haitian International is confident that it is on the right path for growth in Europe. The company has put together a medical package with a number of specific machine configuration options, specifically for this application area. Right now, its main market sectors, besides medical, are packaging, 3C — computers, communications and consumer electronics — and consumer goods.

"But we have already delivered our first machine to Playmobil in Germany, an electric Haitian machine. It's been running for the past year and a half, and now they're moving into the next investment stage. We are feeling optimistic about the future," Herz said.

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