Innovation, cooperation enlarge brand awareness
By Shangguan Zhoudong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-09-13 13:40

Management and independent technology innovation are key factors to enlarge independent brands reputation, Xu Xiyou, general manager of Shenyang Machine Tool (Group) Co Ltd, China's biggest machine tool manufacturer, said at the China Machine Tool Industry Brand Development Forum, which held on September 10 in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

According to Xu, the company cooperated with the Technical University of Berlin, China's Tongji University, Jilin University and Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics, in an effort to improve its research and development capabilities.

The company recorded 5.55 billion yuan in sales last year, among that, US$50 million yuan are from overseas markets, it produced 60,000 set of machine tools last year with over 10,000 are numerical controlled.

Another China's leading grinder supplier, Shanghai Machine Tool Co Ltd, also attach importance on cooperation with China's leading universities. It also set up a workroom with Siemens China and established a technology center in the United States, ensuring the company have access to the world's most advanced machine tool technology.

Qiqihar Heavy CNC Equipment Co Ltd, also China's machine tool giant, spends three percent of its sales on research and development and innovation. It invited machinery tool expert for staff training and paid more attention on information exchange with foreign companies.

According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of this year, 2,432 Chinese machine tool enterprises recorded 75.6 billion yuan and 72.2 billion yuan in output value and sales, up 25.8 percent and 26.3 percent respectively from the same period of last year.

Representatives from China's leading machine tool manufacturers such as Ningjiang Group, Chongqing Machine Tool (Group) Co Ltd, Machine Tool Plant of Dongfeng Motor Co Ltd, Hangzhou Machine Tool Group Co Ltd attend the forum.

As a part of Chinese Brand Promotion Northeast China Tour, the forum is organized by the Electromechanical and Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Commerce, China Machine Tool & Tool Builders' Association, Liaoning Provincial Department of Commerce, Shenyang Commerce Bureau.