COLOGNE, Germany—Karol Vanko, vice president at Mesnac Co. Ltd., said the rubber machinery maker is seeking a reduced reliance on its home market; targeting a 50/50 split between sales in China and overseas.
Virtually all of the company's sales were in China about five years ago, Vanko said 20 percent of the Mesnac's business was generated outside of China in 2014. He forecast that this figure would ramp up to 30 percent this year and 50 percent in 2016.
“The question is how to attract customers to be able to sell that 50 percent,” Vanko said, adding that part of this challenge was to counter a perception that Chinese companies “copy everything”.
“Mesnac is completely different, offering many new ideas and solutions for customers that have never been developed before,” the executive said.
He cited the company's development of technology to reduce bad odors from tire plants by 80 percent as an example of how Mesnac was delivering advanced and specialized technologies to the tire industry.