Nypro Inc. continues its expansion into China with the recent signing of a letter of intent to form a joint venture with Tianjin Elec-tronics Indus-tries Group. Randall S. Barko, corporate vice president of marketing and sales, said the group is a government-owned company that operates 12 injection presses. Nypro will be the majority owner of the venture.
``As soon as we get the documents signed and sealed, we'll begin the technology upgrade of that facility to enable them to have the same capabilities as other Nypro plants,'' he said.
Nypro is not new to China. About 12 years ago, the company formed its first joint venture in Hong Kong.
A partnership with a molder in Shenzhen formed four years ago now is wholly owned by Nypro.
Barko said the China ventures allow Nypro to serve its multinational customers in that country with products for both domestic and export sales. The Shenzhen plant operates 18 presses and offers a variety of services such as electromagnetic and radio-frequency-interference shielding for cellular telephones, and two-shot molding. Nypro employs 142 there.
Nypro had been eyeing Tianjin, just east of Beijing in northern China, for the past 18 months.
``There's a significant concentration of multinational customers in that area in a large industrial park,'' Barko said.
Nypro has not been successful in all its searches for Chinese joint ventures. Barko said the company was close to forming a joint venture in Shanghai, but that fell through. He admits that doing business in China has its difficulties.
``It's a learning experience,'' he said. ``Once you have a track record of success, it becomes easier as you go along.''