A sparsely attended press conference during Chinaplas at the booth of Chinese injection molding machinery manufacturer Haitian delivered new insights into the company's business strategy moving forward, particularly in terms of serving the needs of the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector in China. At the event, deputy CEO and future CEO-designate Zhang Bin outlined the company’s strategy directed at smart manufacturing.

Essentially, in addition to its traditional business of making injection presses, CNC machines for aluminum and magnesium component production, die-casting machines, laser welding systems for steel (the company’s newest business venture), and automation systems for smart factories, Haitian can also deliver drive systems for all types of production machinery. “A lot of our customers do more than just injection molding,” said Lu. “We are now able to design and plan entire plants for them, including the supply and installation of injection molding machines.”

European manufacturing migrating to Serbia

Haitian has further augmented its global injection machine production and assembly footprint in recent years. Besides its major Chinese manufacturing bases in Ningbo and Shunde, the company’s “2+6” strategy has led to the establishment of six regional headquarters in key markets where machines are built or assembled — Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, and Turkey. The Mexican plant in Guadalajara, for example, assembles CNC machinery and injection molding machines. Haitian is also in the process of migrating manufacturing in Europe to a 250,000-square-meter plant in Ruma, Serbia, with construction slated to commence in the first half of 2023.

Fifth-generation machinery debuts

The company chose Chinaplas 2023 for the debut of its fifth-generation servo-hydraulic injection molding machines featuring enhanced energy savings. The Mars MA1200V/400 servo-hydraulic press on show at Chinaplas was molding two components weighing, respectively, 31 and 18 grams for a wireless charging station made from 100% recycled ABS. The machine consumed 0.33 kWh of energy per kg of resin and achieved a cycle time of 42 seconds. Four new models are on offer in the series.

Haitian debuted the original Mars series in 2006, and since then it has delivered 380,000 units. The latest iteration boasts 50 to 70% energy savings compared with previous models.

Haitian’s Jupiter two-platen servo-hydraulic series is also now in its fifth iteration. Chinaplas served as the stage to highlight the Jupiter’s capability for molding multiple different parts in a single mold for the automotive industry. The JU10800v/8950 operating at the Haitian booth was supported by FlexFlow servo-driven valve gate technology from Oerlikon HRSflow and demonstrated the molding of three different polypropylene auto parts weighing, respectively, 607, 348, and 55 grams for a door panel in a 56-second cycle time.

Medical application on show at Chinaplas

Show visitors were also able to witness a Haitian solution for the medical industry — the fifth-gen all-electric Zhafir VE1500V-300h molding heparin-dispensing caps from a medical-grade ABS compound. The cleanroom-compliant machine molded the 0.64-gram caps in a 24-cavity tool with a cycle time of 17 seconds.

A fourth machine at the Haitian stand making its debut at Chinaplas was the Zhafir ZE1900V-650. The machine was shown compression molding 10- and 14-mm-thick acrylic lenses in a 4+4 tool at a cycle time of 150 seconds.