On January 7, 2020, Chen Cuibiao, Deputy General Manager of Anhui Boelion Automation Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., arrived in Milan, Italy with representatives attending the training tour of die-casting and intelligent manufacturing, as well as the European die-casting exhibition, to embark on a 10 day training journey, This training trip is jointly organized by Suzhou Die Casting Technology Association and Canal Business School. Intended for technical exchange and research, learning advanced die-casting technology in Europe, visiting excellent die-casting machine production enterprises and excellent die-casting component production enterprises, and finally arranging a visit to the European 2020 EUROGUSS die-casting exhibition.

First Stop IDRA Italy

The headquarters of IDRA is located in Brescia, northern Italy, near Milan. Mr. John Stokes, Global Director of IDRA ITC, and Mr. Wang Ding, Sales Manager in China, warmly welcomed everyone and led them to visit the production workshop of IDRA. They introduced the development history of IDRA and focused on the 6100t die-casting machine, which is currently the largest tonnage in the world. The attending representatives were all impressed.

Figure: Part of IDRA Company

Picture:Group photo of the training group as a souvenir

TIPS： Italian company IDRA S.R.L. merged with Italian die-casting machinery company IDRA S.R.L. established in 1946 and STP company that produces die-casting peripheral equipment, headquartered in the important industrial city of Brescia in northern Italy,located near Milan. It is one of the oldest companies in the world's professional die-casting machine manufacturing industry. It is also the world's largest die-casting machinery group company, leading the technology and market in the global die-casting machine industry.

The second stop is Buhler Switzerland headquarters of the Buhler Group

The second stop was from Milan, Italy, and on a sunny day, we arrived at the Buhler headquarters in Switzerland. Mr. Lu Min, the General Manager of Buhler's die-casting business in China, was waiting for everyone in the company early.Buhler Group occupies a leading position in fields such as grain processing, chemical processing engineering, and metal die-casting.. Mr. Lu led us to visit Bühler's experimental centre, innovation centre and die casting machine testing workshop, showcasing the the new generation of 1400T die casting machine, sharing Bühler's strategy and history of development in the meeting room, and finally took a group photo with us on the top floor of Bühler's technology centre.

Figure Partial group photo of Buhler Group

Fig. 5 Group photo with Buhler executives

TIPS:  The Buhler Group was founded in 1860 and is headquartered in Uzwil. After 140 years of development, the Buhler Group has become a global leader in the fields of grain processing, chemical processing engineering and metal die casting, providing efficient production equipment and complete engineering solutions. At present, Buhler Group has established 140 subsidiaries and more than 80 branches worldwide, with 6300 employees. In 2002, Buhler (China) was established in Wuxi, responsible for the sales and services of Buhler Group's products in China, and participated in product research and development, providing a complete set of equipment for complete projects.

The third stop is Germany's French company

In the following days, the group visited Mercedes-Benz Rasttat factory and Frech Company in Germany, where they were warmly received by Mr Ge Yujiang, CEO of Frech China. The group first visited the new base of Frech, where they learned about the history of Frech's development and the company overview,  Afterwards, they came to the earliest workshop, which was built by the founder Mr Oskar Frech in his garden, It is still in good condition and showcases the development process of Frech on both sides of the workshop wall, inspiring generations of Frech people to forge ahead.

Figure Group photo of the study group at the workshop in Frech

Picture: Frech, Germany

Tips: Tips: Frech was founded in Germany in 1949 and initially engaged in the mould business. In 1959, we started to produce hot chamber die casting machines for zinc, tin and lead alloys. Our advanced technology helped us  occupy the market quickly. As a pioneer in the production of hot chamber die casting machines and moulds, as well as a leader in the production of modern cold chamber die casting machines.

The fourth stop is EUROGUSS, the European 2020 Die Casting Exhibition

At the last stop of the itinerary, representatives of the training team arrived at Eurogus, one of the largest exhibitions in the forging and die-casting industry in Europe and even the world, This die-casting exhibition has attracted a large number of Chinese companies, such as Millison, Asahi Sheng, Lijin, and many other Chinese visitors. It is a global gathering .Boehmer company also participated in the exhibition and displayed a variety of spraying tools, such as profiling spraying tools, micro spraying tools, and also showed the latest micro pulse spraying technology of Boehmer.

Figure Boehmer profiling tool

Photo: Group photo at the Boehmer booth of the training group

The European training trip was successfully concluded on 17th January. During the training,I not only visited representative groups and companies in the die-casting industry ,but more importantly, I felt their rigorous work style and advanced management style. Especially at this Nuremberg exhibition, Boehmer actively participated and attracted the attention of many customers, achieving great success and playing an important role in promoting Boelion's development in the international and domestic markets.