German press maker KBA is developing and renaming manufacturing interests in China, its biggest single market.

Sheet-feeder maker Mabeg Machinery (Shanghai) will trade as KBA Machinery (Shanghai) from May, four years after KBA acquired an 80 per cent share.

Apart from this and its 20-year-old sales and service network based on KBA Printing Machinery (Shanghai) – with branches in Beijing and Guangzhou –and KBA (HK) in Hong Kong, it also owns KBA-Metronic Hangzhou.

More than 170 staff at KBA China provide services for Chinese users of web and newspaper presses, as well as sheetfed and special presses.

The former Mabeg operation, KMS has 63 employees who make parts and components for the European supplier industry as well as their primary business in sheet feeders for Chinese die-cutter, laminator and printing press manufacturers.

Chairman of the Chinese subsidiary since last February is Herbert Nadj, who has a background in power electronics and was plant, installation and service manager for Mabeg Maschinenbau before joining Rudolf Fritz as technical manager.

KBA says he now plans to expand business relationships to local suppliers in the upper market segment and in this way to win new customers. Given the ever higher quality of production, he also sees a good chance to expand deliveries of components to Europe.

KBA-Metronic Hangzhou in the city’s Binjiang district, focusses on speciality marking and coding, and was created as a sales and manufacturing company in mid 2013. Alongside majority shareholder KBA-Metronic, remaining shares are held by long-time partner In-Dun.

An assembly line for alphaJet inkjet printers is currently being set up at the Chinese factory, although KBA says know-how and “certain key components” are to remain the responsibility of the German headquarters.

A total of 23 employees will handle manufacturing, sales and service for China and Taiwan, with further sales offices to be opened in Zhejiang and Guangdong and expansion to supply the rest of the southeast Pacific region planned.

Pictured: Herbert Nadj (50) has been appointed chairman of manufacturing company KBA Machinery (Shanghai)

In Hanzhou, below, Oliver Volland (managing director of KBA-Metronic), Kent Chen (KBA-Metronic Hangzhou), Thorsten Schnatz (sales director of KBA-Metronic) and Jason Gu (KBA-Metronic Hangzhou)