Riland and CLOOS Announce Welding Partnership
The aim of this partnership is to develop a completely new generation of welding equipment targeted at the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, and the MIST countries of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey.
Posted: June 12, 2014
Shenzen Riland Industry Co., Ltd. (Guangdong, China) and Carl CLOOS Schweisstechnik GmbHIndustriestrasse (Haiger, Germany) recently signed a cooperation agreement at the Beijing Essen Welding & Cutting international trade show held this June.
This agreement represents a far-reaching strategic cooperation in the field of product development. The declared aim of the cooperation is the development of a completely new generation of welding equipment, which to date is neither part of the CLOOS or Riland high-tech product portfolio.
Although there are hints that the new product will be positioned in the middle-class market segment, CLOOS managing director Gerald Mies refused to make specific comments. Instead, he referred to the international autumn trade fairs and specifically to the EuroBLECH in Hannover this October. “Together with Riland,” he said, “we will soon start our productive development work and test the first prototypes in the near future in order to introduce the welding equipment to the market at its world premiere.”
This cooperation continues the foundation for a long-time existing mutual business relationship between the two companies, as Simon Qiu, the founder and president of Shenzen Riland, points out with justifiable pride. “We have sourced our high-tech welding power sources from CLOOS in Haiger for the Chinese market and will continue to do so while supplying a variety of high-quality electronic components to them,” he said. “Both companies know how harmonious coexistence creates a foundation for success.”
“We don’t only know each other, we also have in-depth knowledge of our products – and most importantly, we know our respective strengths,” points out Mies. “We now need to build on this for an innovative joint product strategy.”
Whether this might extend into a far-reaching strategic alliance in the future, the two partners did not want to reveal any particulars at this stage. However, Mies doesn’t rule out anything. “Even the longest journey begins with the first step, a Chinese saying states,” he said. “We have now taken this first step together with our partner Riland. And we are confident that the synergy of our strengths will generate excellent products. How these products will finally be brought to the customer, the future will tell.”
Qiu emphasizes that the focus of the current and future market campaign would definitely be the BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China, and the MIST countries Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey. “With the new welding equipment, CLOOS and Riland are both developing into full liners,” adds Mies. “With a product portfolio ranging from entry-level to high-tech and from handheld devices to automated welding systems, we are able to meet every conceivable customer requirement at the highest level.”
In his final statement, Qiu refers to this diversity and points out that the expertise of each company would create new strategic opportunities for both partners. saying, “It will be interesting.”