China General Interest
In this edition of China Now, Stuart Hampton of PSL talks to us about the company's foray into China and the success of that venture.
In 2001 PSL (formally known as Phillips & Smith Limited) decided that after having serviced the fire and safety market since 1913 from New Zeaaland, we needed to look to China to reduce manufacturing costs. In late 2001 we started a market survey of China which resulted in the General Manager and Sales Manager making an exploratory visit in early 2002. By the end of that year we had established relationships with some 6 different Chinese manufacturers for the supply of componentry for our manufacturing facility in Auckland.
During the following years we have established numerous contacts with numerous trips to China along with visiting the Canton Fair which has proved to be a must for New Zealand importers to visit if they want to source product.
With our involvement in China it has lead us to be able to manufacture product on a more competitive basis and it has allowed us to re-export finished product with Chinese componentry to up to 20 different markets around the world. Currently we are actively pursuing export sales in the Middle East which we see is a market that is important for all exporters.
Having established a number of contacts in China, it was very important that we establish a very good quality control procedure. This resulted in us employing a person in China to visit all of our suppliers and carry out Quality Assurance on every shipment. This has been one of the most important things that PSL has done in China which resulted in us opening an office in 2007.
Having built up numerous contacts it has now lead our Company into a situation of where we have now started exporting to China. One of our most recent successes was that we imported a number of componentry items from China for the manufacture of fire fighting pumps and we had the success of re-exporting in one order 50 fire fighting pumps back to China.
It does take time to build relationships but we have found that it has been a rewarding relationship and one of mutual benefit for PSL and our Chinese counterparts. It is one that we will continue to build on for many years to come. Along the way it has also become important that you seek the right advice and support from various organisations. We have had valuable help from the New Zealand China Trade Association NZCTA including being able to visit with them as a delegation in 2006 for the 100th Canton Fair and being invited to witness the presentation from the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Victor Percival.
To read more about PSL you can visit www.firemaster.co.nz
Oct 28, 2008