As the market continues to grow in Asia, manufacturers are stepping up their operations. International companies are intensifying their supply relationships with Asian companies and setting up subsidiaries in the booming conurbations of the huge continent.

Others are focussing on increasing their existing capacities and leading German manufacturer of warp knitting machines and warp preparation systems Karl Mayer is no exception.

Karl Mayer has had its own subsidiary in Hong Kong since 198 and since then has been constantly adapting its range of services to cater for growing demand. The company expanded its base in Hong Kong at the beginning of this year with expansion focused on increasing the number of employees and moving into new offices.

The new, modern premises cover an area of 200m², which is adequate space for liaising with clients and for housing the back-office team, which has increased from eight to 14.

Following the market

The workforce at Karl Mayer (H.K.) Ltd. includes experts from Germany and UK giving it a truly international flavour and staff are responsible for managing the sales and marketing of all of Karl Mayer’s machinery for the Asian market. Karl Mayer says there are a few exceptions to this, i.e. the customer support operations in Japan, selected provinces in China in relation to warp knitting machines and the machines produced by Karl Mayer Malimo. Karl Mayer’s warp preparation machines are also sold in China and in selected countries only from the base in Hong Kong.

Staff in Hong Kong are responsible for selling Karl Mayer’s products in all their sales regions of Asia. They are also responsible for marketing and liaise directly with clients which is always done by working closely with the national sales agencies. Karl Mayer says the regional sales managers, therefore, have the right expertise to call on and are responsible for organising the operations.

“With our current sales set-up, we are in close contact with our clients. We are quick to spot changing trends in demand and can react rapidly to them,” explains Kevin Socha, head of Karl Mayer Hong Kong when describing the services provided by his staff. He also adds that it is easier to transfer money between banks in Asia than between different continents.

Prompt, professional service

As well as sales and marketing, Karl Mayer Hong Kong is also responsible for servicing operations. From the new offices, staff coordinate and organise the activities of the company’s service engineers all over Asia, with the exception of Japan. The expert assembly specialists come either from Karl Mayer (Changzhou) Technical Services Ltd., a subsidiary of Karl Mayer (H.K.) Ltd. that is responsible for China or from a network of field personnel who are responsible for the remaining areas.

A specialist team is also available for supporting the machines manufactured by Karl Mayer Malimo. According to KarlMayer, the right level of expertise is available in the right place at the right time and any spare parts needed can be obtained just as quickly from Hong Kong. The new premises also houses a well-organised spare parts warehouse to ensure that the key components most frequently needed can be delivered quickly.

Karl Mayer says that a great deal of time and effort were spent on setting-up the warehouse, moving into the new premises and expanding the team in Hong Kong and the process was not without its problems. However, after a brief consolidation phase, Karl Mayer’s new subsidiary is now fully operational, just in time to cope with the current, buoyant order situation.