German supplier of machinery and systems for processing plastics and rubber, KraussMaffei (Munich; www.kraussmaffeigroup.com) has been busy in the China market lately and recently announced that it would be collaborating with Chinese industrial design group, Guangzhou Echom Technology (Guangzhou; www.echom.com) to mass produce the German company's "SkinForm" products for the Chinese market.

In a news release, the company stated that it would be supplying a production unit based on a GX 450-3000 injection moulding machine to Echom for testing, production and mould proving.

"We believe that the SkinForm technology has tremendous potential in China," said Erich Fries, head of lightweight construction and surfaces at KraussMaffei.

The SkinForm process technology combines the benefits of injection moulding and reaction process machinery to deliver a variety of PUR surfaces. It is a single-step process which applies a durable and attractive polyurethane coating to an injection-moulded substrate to produce components primarily for the automotive industry. The end result is that finished products have the "look and feel" of leather. The process is totally automated and ideal for high-volume production, according to the company. Some of the benefits are that it offers the highest levels of scratch resistance and accuracy to detail.

In other company news, The Bavarian company said that it had completed the assembly of its MX series injection moulding machinery at its production site in Haiyan, not far from Shanghai, during the first quarter of 2013. In fact, according to the company news release, the first Chinese-assembled MX 850-6100 had been delivered to a long-term customer who has since placed it in operation.

Harold Schweitzer, who heads up the company's subsidiary in China, said that plans call for further expanding the MX product line with assembly at the Chinese plant. He added that extrusion and reaction process machinery have been produced at Haiyan for several years.