Like many foreign mold manufacturing plants in China, CosmosToolingSolutionsLtd. The company started by exporting molds with low cost advantages to North America and other countries. But now, the company is increasingly turning to the expanding Chinese domestic market for growth potential.

The Cosmos plant in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, has only about 100 employees and can only be considered as a small mold manufacturing plant according to Chinese standards.

But its owners—many plastics industry executives from the United States and Hong Kong—see the opportunity to expand their business in the Chinese domestic market in pursuit of higher quality. This vision is widely worried that the Chinese competitors will cause unemployment in the mold industry. Can be described as unique.

Michael Zacharias, one of the company’s U.S. investors and president of ExtremeTool and Engineering, based in Wakefield, Michigan, said: “Individually, my goal for this company is to allow [Chinese] domestic business to account for our total business volume. Half of the country, we hope to expand our business in the Chinese market."

The Dongguan factory was a Cosmos company's partner who had just completed in 2008, so all products are still export-oriented.

In this context, it may be challenging to achieve the goal of 50% of domestic business, especially in the Chinese domestic market, where cost competitiveness is very popular. However, Zacharias and his partners stated that they have seen More and more Western customers (and some local companies) are interested in asking them to produce and supply products in the growing Chinese home market in Dongguan.

They said that one of the company’s goals is the automotive market. Last year, China surpassed the United States as the world’s largest auto market in car sales. The two U.S. companies that are its partners have links with the U.S. automotive industry, designing and producing molds for automotive companies, and also engage in product development.

Another investor in Cosmos is Future Engineering, Inc., a mold design, product development and engineering firm based in Swartz Creek, Michigan, USA. StephenDavidek, the company’s vice president, said: “I can't conveniently disclose our customer name, but we have a product that supplies the heavy-duty truck industry. This is a considerable deal.”

The third U.S. investor in Cosmos is Matt Catlin, president of FutureEngineering.

Davidek said that it will take time for the Chinese auto market to fully mature. However, Zacharias said that investors agreed that they should intervene as soon as possible: “It is too late to wait until the Chinese auto market is very prosperous and successful.”

Hercules Shum, one of Cosmos’s funders and concurrently serving as its general manager in Hong Kong, pointed out that one of the factors that makes the Chinese automobile market increasingly attractive is that cars that are “Made in China” must satisfy the local content. The request.

Chen Zhi, who worked for Hong Kong Elite Modeling Company before entering Cosmos, said: "In many areas of the Chinese automotive industry, people are still buying [components] imported from other countries."

China and the United States have had trade frictions with auto parts and components. China launched an anti-dumping investigation on auto parts imported from the United States last year.

Zacharias said, but they have seen the use of US product development and engineering technologies as the Chinese market has increasingly begun to develop vehicles that suit local needs.

He said: “The old-fashioned Chinese car will never change much. In view of this, I think we can tap the potential that the United States does not have in the Chinese market.” He mentioned that people are interested in designing cars and electric cars for short commutes. Interest has increased.

"Therefore, there is an increasing demand for the work that I and Stephen have done."

The above two U.S. companies are not large in scale. Extreme has 55 employees in the United States, with annual sales of approximately US$8.5 million, and Future has only nine employees. They said that the joint venture plant in China will also supply China's medical and other industries.

These partners explained that the Cosmos company established in 2008 was held by US investors by 50% and Shen Zhihe and other Hong Kong investors by 50%. Its purpose was to meet what they said were lower costs to US customers. The demand for China-made molds, but the project management is responsible for the United States.

In addition to project management, the two U.S. companies also conducted final tests on molds made specifically for customers in Dongguan.

Zacharias said that his company mainly operates higher-end, high-priced molds and transferred most of its knowledge to Cosmos to provide quality assurance. He said that Dongguan's factory and Extreme's target market are different.

He said: "We are fully involved. Extreme's business practices are very clear, we have all our practice activities without reservation to the Chinese partners ... and has been absorbed by them 90%."

The parties said that they hope to shift the Dongguan factory toward a higher-tech mold manufacturing plant and focus on scientific molding and other areas, and are also seriously looking for opportunities to add injection molding business.

Zacharias said that the Dongguan plant achieved profitability two years after it was put into operation.

In a telephone interview on February 11th, two U.S. investors all said that the investment in Cosmos had brought new business to their own company, but they said that the relationship between U.S. mold makers and China is more complex. Because American companies are facing fierce competition from other countries with lower costs.

Zacharias said: "Strategically, different from our business in the United States, we have obtained global business opportunities through [Cosmos]. Although this will make some people feel uncomfortable, the world market is working like this. Some Americans are more repellent to this thinking process."

He said: "The first response of the US mold makers is to create unemployment or other kinds of competition." He added that during the economic crisis his company did not lay off employees in the United States.

He said: "The establishment of Cosmos through the capital contribution helped us expand customer contact and create more job opportunities. The impact it has brought is very positive."