German machinery maker Ossberger reports signs of improvement in the global automotive sector — where it is a key equipment supplier for flexible boot and bellows production. But the firm does not know how quickly that will be felt in the U.S.
“For the last few months [the global automotive market] was very hard but customers are moving back to production and some are thinking about new machines,” said Klaus Haub, sales manager at Weissenburg, Germany-based Ossberger.
“I'm pretty convinced that Asia will be first and Europe and America will follow. But I don't now about the USA; it seems to be the Latin American market that's coming back,” he said at NPE, held June 22-26 in Chicago.
He said there is a trend of U.S. auto component production moving to Mexico or even farther south, and though that trend may not be good news for U.S. manufacturers, it presents opportunities for machinery makers, and he hopes to benefit from that.
“Some will move their machines, but the majority will buy new machines,” he predicted.
Ossberger operates in a niche blow molding sector: Its Pressblower machines are used to make auto bellows and boots. It also makes packaging systems for low-volume tube production.
Ossberger is represented by FGH Systems Inc. of Denville, N.J., in North America.
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