DUSSELDORF: A specialised marketing mission comprising seven Malaysian companies, currently visiting Germany to scout for business for rubber and plastics parts and components, has been getting ‘good vibes’ from their visit.
They are also ‘highly encouraged’ by the responses from the German companies they have so far visited.
The Frankfurt office of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) arranged the visits of the group which will also take part along with a large contingent of Malaysian companies in the world’s largest plastics and rubber trade fair called ‘K 2010’ to be held here from today until this November 3.
Malaysia’s senior trade commissioner in Frankfurt, Sabri Mohd Rahman was bullish about the meetings and said he was very much encouraged by the response of the German companies the group had visited.
“I think they (Malaysian companies) started off well by getting encouraging responses from the German companies,” he told Bernama.
The first company which the group visited was Tente Rollen GmbH (Tente) in Wermelskirchen.
The company, which has an annual turnover of euros 140 million (RM601.423 million), manufactures all kinds of wheel rings which find application in various products such as hospital beds, luggage and a number of other products.
Apparently, the company has not always had the best of experiences with suppliers in China, with which it has been dealing in the past.
Consequently, Tente is looking for alternative sources of supply so as not to put all its eggs in China’s basket.
However, Tente’s purchasing director, Ralf Meyer administered a word of caution to potential Malaysian suppliers.
“We would like to have swift responses from our Malaysian suppliers.
“In the past, we have experienced problems in getting a response to a multitude of efforts made by us to contact them.
“It is difficult to maintain relations with Malaysian companies who do not respond in time.
“In our business, timely action is of utmost importance,” he said.
Meyer said his company was looking for suppliers of finished rubber parts and components and was on the verge of concluding a deal with a Malaysian supplier.
“We are planning to visit Kuala Lumpur and Penang next month and hope to finalise the deal,” he said in an interview with Bernama.
Asked how his company had learnt about Malaysia as a supplier, Meyer revealed that his company had done some research and discovered that Malaysia can offer good quality, besides adhering to delivery schedules.
“We expect a long-term cooperation with our Malaysian partners and that calls for reliability in regard to price stability, quality and delivery schedules,” he said.
Another factor that swayed Tente to consider Malaysia is the fact that rubber manufacture and designing is not exactly China’s forte.
Malaysia, being a rubber-producing country with extensive experience in making rubber-based products, came up for consideration, according to Tente representatives. — Bernama