Plastics & Rubber World - May/June 2019 - 23

automation

'canned' cycles. They don't deliver the
same flexibility, the programmability.
They're not like-for-like."
Hill goes on to say that the falling values of new robots is working in his favour. "Over the last five or six years, robot
prices in Europe have tumbled across
the board. I would say they're 20% lower
than they were five years ago." This has
made the premium end of the market
that much more attractive for potential
buyers.
Like its Austrian counterpart, Sepro
is well-known in the global market; Renaudeau says that about 80% of all production is shipped out of France, with
major markets including the US and Germany. In China, the automation provider
has already delivered installations for
plastic part production at national vehicle assemblers and suppliers, including
Dongfeng and Yanfeng, plus US companies producing cars in-market.
"We're not going to position ourselves
as a low-cost player," says Renaudeau.
"We will position ourselves as we do in
Europe, a specialist provider of software
and automation solutions for moulding
machines."
Hill says it's a case of price dictating
overall performance; low-cost alternatives don't stand up to such a rigorous
examination. "When you make an apples-for-apples comparison, are you

Sepro's Jean-Michel Renaudau reports 80% of all output is exported
getting three-axis servo drives, absolute
encoders, a programmable teach box? I
suggest not."
Renaudeau explains that while sales
for Sepro have recently stalled in China,
it's largely due to a wider market slowdown. The company plans to ride out the
downturn, maintaining its presence to

›› Continued on page 24

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Plastics & Rubber World - May/June 2019

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