Editor's note:

The first China International Import Expo will kick off in Shanghai on Nov. 5. It is not just another expo in an ordinary sense, but a major policy initiative and commitment taken of our own accord to open up the Chinese market.

Reform and opening-up policies have pushed China to become a “world factory”, and “Made in China” has greatly benefited consumers around the world. The Chinese market has created a huge space for global economic development and provided a strong impetus for world economic growth.

This unusual expo has also attracted unusual exhibitors. As of now, the registration for the enterprise exhibition of the first CIIE has been completed with the results far beyond expectation. These companies will present the world’s cutting-edge innovative technologies and quality brand products to Chinese consumers. The program, CIIE Now · Dialogue with Executives, hopes to glimpse expo highlights through the conversations with executives from these exhibitors.

Today’s guest:

Chen Yixiang, President, Georg Fischer China

GF to present six conceptual products at CIIE

Headquartered in Switzerland, Georg Fischer (GF) is a transnational enterprise with a history of more than 200 years and is present in 140 cities all over the world with 50 production bases.

GF comprises three divisions: GF Piping Systems, GF Casting Solutions, and GF Machining Solutions. It enjoys cutting-edge competitiveness in the fields of electron discharge machining, milling and laser processing, among others.

Q: As a long-established intelligent manufacturing enterprise from Europe, what do you think about the Chinese market?

A: Although Georg Fischer is a Swiss enterprise, it started to take root in China for development a long time ago. The first manufacturing factory was founded in Shunyi, Beijing in 1993, after which a manufacturing plant was established in Chengdu in 2010 to produce high-end processing machine tools.

The annual sales volume of high-end machine tools is about 1200 units in China with a very positive market situation; among these, 70% of the machine tools are produced in China on the basis of Swiss standards.

Q: What technological and innovative products will be brought by GF to the first CIIE?

A: GF was founded in 1802, and our industries include aerospace, automobiles, network communications, electronics and medical treatments, among many others.

At the expo, we will present six technologies with the most sophisticated, high-end and top products; besides, we want to show our best innovation achievements from research and development.

When the time is right, it is possible for us to launch the latest generation of laser processing technology that would debut globally. It can be applied to automobile molds, packaging, aerospace and other fields.

Q: Given that the smart era has arrived, what will be the development priority of GF in the future?

A: Traditionally, GF is a machine tool manufacturer. But we provide not only the equipment, but also automation and intelligent manufacturing solutions.

We acquired a German company last year to carry out the research and development of intelligent machine tools. In a fully automated factory environment, our clients need to know the time that machine tools will break down because passive machine tool damage has a negative influence on work productiveness in the high-speed development.

When we have intelligent machine tools, it is possible to achieve remote monitoring and control of machine tool status, problem prediction, and planned pre-maintenance for machine tools. In the future, this kind of intelligent manufacturing will be an important development direction for our company.