Stolle opens new service centre in China
Stolle Machinery recently announced the opening of a new service centre in Foshan, China, near Guangzhou. The Foshan site is projected to reach sales of $20 million in its second year and with a goal of $50m in five years’ time.
Primarily serving Chinese canmakers, the new facility is designed for rebuild of machinery and die sets, as well as new machinery production. It will also serve as a dispatch centre for technical services and training.
The site is managed by Liu Qiong, vice president of sales and operations for China. Arnaldo Costa supports the Stolle China Business along with Stolle Brazil as executive vice president.
Stolle is renting the 4,300 sq metres site, with an option to expand to almost 10,000sqm. Liu Qiong said that by renting rather than owning, the site reflects Stolle’s philosophy of investing in people and customer support, rather than in self owned buildings.
Foshan is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province, close to a free trade zone. It has good logistical links and is positioned to fulfill Stolle’s requirements of a strong supply chain – a key ingredient in Stolle’s strategy of positioning global facilities that provide rapid regional service while reducing maintenance costs for machinery.
Costa and Qiong said that the aim of the Chinese facility is to replicate the model of Stolle’s successful facility in Brazil. This new Stolle facility will focus solely on the Chinese market where they already have a strong foothold, rather than aid in the transfer of production.
“When it comes to process issues – or any kind of need in China – we want customers to automatically think of Stolle Machinery first,” said Costa, “We will be there for them.”