Q&A: UTH at live RubberTech China 2020 show

Fulda, Germany – Among the leading-edge companies managing to break free from the confines of the virtual world is UTH GMBH, which exhibited at the recent RubberTech China 2020 show, held 16-18 Sept in Shanghai. 

In this Q&A, Paul Tan, general manager of UTH Extrusion Technology & Service Shanghai reviews the company’s experiences at the show, where it presented the latest advances to its roll-ex fine mesh straining system and advanced technology for reworking of rubber processing materials.

ERJ: What was it like to exhibit at this year’s show in Shanghai?

Paul Tan: This year, the RubberTech expo wasn’t combined with the tire expo. So, the scale was not so big as well as the RubberTech expo in the past. There were N1, N2 and half of N3 Hall for RubberTech expo, and there were other two expos (ICIF China 2020 and China adhesive 2020) held at same time.

ERJ: How did the various Covid precautions and restrictions work out?

PT: All the persons who will enter and visit the expo, will need to show the health code, ID and measure the body temperature. Anyway, it did not take a long time to finish such procedures. It was only around 1 min., maybe less. Since there is no domestic cases in Shanghai for a long time already, people are not forced to have a face mask all the time, even on expo.

ERJ: What were visitor numbers like at the expo and to UTH’s booth?

PT: Due to the corona virus situation this year, there were few foreign faces on expo. But, I would like to say the domestic visitors and customers were not much less that last year. Regarding the visitors this year there is no official report so far. From our point of view, the total amount of visitors this year would be less than the visitor in the past. The corona virus and the smaller scale are the reasons. The visitors on our booth were surely less than last year. But there were more valuable visitors, discussions and enquiries during the Expo than we expected. This was a very positive and motivating surprise for us.

ERJ: What lessons and experiences did UTH learn from its participation at RubberTech China 2020.

PT: Through Corona, travelling was not possible for months. The contact was mainly limited to digital communications and virtual meetings. After this long time the Expo offered the opportunity for the personal contact and it showed that both sides perceived this positive experience. 

As we consider customer proximity and the customers dialogue as one of the most important issues this was another good reason for being at the expo. Especially in the field of customer advice, face-to-face communication has a particularly important role to play.

ERJ: How well were UTH’s fine mesh straining and processing technologies received at the show?

PT: The numerous visitors at our stand showed great interest in our roll-ex solutions in the fields of fine-mesh straining, silicone compounding/straining and precision extrusion. It also proved that the RubberTech China 2020 was a good platform to present our new dual drive system for processing particularly abrasive rubber compounds. 

Especially in times like these, cost-cutting and resource-saving solutions are very much in demand. All-in-all, the visitors' topics and inquiries confirmed our competence and global market leadership in the fields of fine mesh straining and precise extrusion.

ERJ: Thank you