Going East
Vogelsang extends manufacturing in the middle kingdom
The People’s Republic of China – one multifaceted culture, which includes 5,000 years of history, an area of 9,571,000 square kilometers and about 1.4 billion people. No country on earth counts more inhabitants and none points like that in the last few decades constant economic growth.
China – The middle kingdom, a land of boundless opportunities
In view of this rapid development, many German companies have established themselves in China in order to conquer both the domestic market and the Asian region – and have done so successfully. The Vogelsang Group was one of those to recognize this tremendous potential several years ago, when it founded a subsidiary in the People’s Republic, Vogelsang Mechanical Eng. Co. Ltd. Thanks to the productive work of the company’s local representatives, manufacturing capacity was able to be expanded even further in fall 2017, with the inauguration of a new production facility in Kunshan in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, about 70 kilometers to the west of Shanghai.
With this multi-million investment, Vogelsang Mechanical was following its already successful strategy of expansion: addressing customer requests quickly and flexibly, and fulfilling orders promptly with the aid of short transportation distances and quick response times.
“With our new plant in Kunshan, we are cementing our position as a technology leader for pumps, shredders, and supply and disposal systems, and as a global solution provider with a local presence who can meet the increasingly demanding requirements of the national market quickly and smoothly,” said Harald Vogelsang, Managing Director of the Vogelsang Group, at the factory opening. The Kunshan plant was officially opened with a solemn ceremony featuring typical Chinese customs, with the participation of numerous guests of honor. Alongside the factory and shop floor, the new building complex accommodates an office and administration area, a showroom and facilities for training purposes, on a total surface area of just under 4.000 square meters.
“We planned and constructed the local production facilities to German standards, including manufacturing, painting and quality control. Now the next step is the introduction of an internationally recognized, certified quality system, DIN ISO 9001. That will ensure that we meet the same high quality standards as in our headquarters in Germany,” explained Walter Horend, Managing Director of Vogelsang China. “The establishment of training modules, compliance with all quality standards, and knowledge transfer from Germany are all intended to help build a center of technical excellence in the medium term and further bolster our market position in the Asian region.”
Walter Horend has the ideal qualities to be able to successfully realize the goals set for growth in sales and production in China. Originally trained as a mechanical engineer, and with an additional background in the business sector, Horend has accumulated his many years of professional experience by working in the machinery industry in both Germany and China, endowing him with the necessary “instincts” to foster a successful synergy of the two cultures. “In the course of almost 15 years of working in China, I have learned how to address cultural specificities in business negotiations and also to find prompt solutions for special customer requests.”
Vogelsang Mechanical Eng. (Kunshan) Co. Ltd.
Building 3,960 square meters
Land 26,667 square meters
23 employees