Kurtz Ersa in Asia
Well established in the Middle Kingdom
Even with seven percent growth, China remains the biggest and most important German trading partner. Despite the cautious economic activity, there are many flourishing business branches with outstanding future perspectives, like the field of electronic production equipment. This is a report from the Middle Kingdom, where the 100% Kurtz Ersa daughter – Kurtz Shanghai Limited, is successfully doing business for 15 years.
Anyone who starts nowadays to put out feelers in Asia to become established there has a hard job to do. Kurtz Ersa on the contrary has been active there for many years: Already in 1988, Kurtz Far East was founded in Hong Kong – since 1990s, the Kurtz and Ersa systems were sold via distributors on the Chinese market. Soon Kurtz Ersa realized the multifold opportunities of the Chinese market – but in order to use them it was necessary to have direct contact to the customer. However, this is impossible without local products and application specialists or a nationwide distribution and service network with one’s own employees.
Therefore Kurtz Shanghai Ltd. (KSL) was founded in 2001, starting with a small sales and service team for Kurtz forming machines. One year later the KSL portfolio was extended by the Ersa Tools range with soldering irons as well as rework and inspection systems, followed in 2006 by Ersa machines. KSL Manager David Chen who is heading the operative business for Ersa in Shanghai, was an essential part of the Kurtz Shanghai Ltd. success story from the beginning: “We are positioned very well in China and cover nearly the whole electronic manufacturing market from the distribution office in Shanghai, a nationwide support with our Chinese application engineers, up to our manufacturing site in Zhuhai, the Kurtz Zhuhai Manufacturing Ltd., where the reflow soldering system HOTFLOW 3/20 is built.”
Who´s who of Chinese Electronic Manufacturing Industries
Since 2001 the KSL team has installed over 2,500 machines and systems – so it is not surprising that the KSL customer list is the who’s who of Chinese Electronic manufacturing industries. Among them global players like Kimball Electronics with its production site in Nanjing, with 17 Ersa systems installed worldwide. The initial contact of KSL and Kimball Electronics took place in 2008 and today four VERSAFLOW selective soldering systems and one HOTFLOW reflow soldering system are installed in the Kimball Electronics production.
Asked for the main reasons for investing in Ersa systems, Kimball Electronics Engineering Manager Avis Zhang answered, “Leading technology and good service” adding, “Concerning reflow soldering we achieve the best temperature stability and a low N2-consumption with the HOTFLOW. Also in selective soldering with the VERSAFLOW the closed-loop function and live monitoring are features to achieve a stable process for a high-level output.” As Engineering Manager, Avis Zhang regularly visits the trade fairs NEPCON and Productronica to keep track of the latest trends in electronic productions that are developed in the Ersa headquarters in Wertheim, Germany and which are then introduced in cooperation with Kurtz Shanghai Ltd. on the trade fairs in Shanghai.
Besides the catchpenny performances on Asia’s trade fair stages Avis Zhang appreciates the possibility to experience the Ersa systems in a production-like surrounding and to put assemblies through their paces in the Ersa demo centers. This is possible in Shenzhen and since spring 2016 also in Shanghai, where the performance and flexibility two selective soldering systems, either a VERSAFLOW 3/45 or a SMARTFLOW 2020, can be tested. Of course, both Ersa demo centers are ideal places for workshops on soldering specific topics or for systematic staff trainings, too. These services are widely accepted therefore further machines will extend the Shanghai demo center and the upgrade to an application center with flexible office workspace is already in progress.
Furthermore Engineering Manager Avis Zhang is convinced of the “the fast responses of the KSL engineers and the absolute determination to continuously improve alongside their customers.” The extended networking abilities of the service engineers, who communicate in real time via chat to be able to establish a fast solution in one of the largest and most populous regions of the world, contributes to this strength. One can eagerly look forward to the further developments in the Middle Kingdom. Good luck to the KSL team!