German auxiliary equipment supplier Werner Koch Maschinentechnik GmbH has acquired a 51 percent stake in its representative in Mexico as part of a strategy to open new markets in North, Central and South America.
The representative company Grupo Industrial Transporte Automatización de Materiales SA de CV (GiTamsa) is spending 85 million pesos ($4.2 million) to improve its headquarters in Querétaro, Mexico. It will also open a sales office in Saltillo, close to Mexico's border with the United States.
Founded by Armando Feregrino seven years ago — when it started selling Koch's Koch-Technik brand in Mexico and Central America — GiTamsa's Querétaro premises will grow to 15,069 square feet, from 4,305, Feregrino told Plastics News Dec. 12.
The facility will house a new sales and training center for up to 30 people, Feregrino said, adding that work will be completed by the spring. The number of GiTamsa staff in Querétaro will increase to 35, from 30, over the coming months, he said, while the office in Saltillo will employ nine when it opens in June.
"The new sales and training center … is necessary in order to train our clients on site, so that they can become familiar with our equipment and systems under production conditions," Michael Rentschler, Koch sales director for Mexico, said. "The new tech center will display our entire range of products, including a central conveying and drying system."
According to Feregrino, the automotive industry accounts for 70 percent of Koch's business in Mexico. The company is eyeing growth, particularly in North and South America, he said in a Spanish-language interview.
"Given the highly positive turnover trends that we've seen in Mexico over the years, it seemed logical to invest in our sales partner GiTamsa," Koch Managing Director Carsten Koch said in a news release, explaining the rationale behind Koch's acquisition of 51 percent of GiTamsa.
Based in Ispringen, Germany, Koch manufactures machinery for mixing, dosing, conveying and drying plastic materials at two plants in Germany. It has sales subsidiaries in Germany, Mexico, Russia, China and India.
