Localization helps develop from "Made in China" to "Designed in China"
Beijing, China--April 2, 2007—ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, maintains a strong momentum in its export business in China in 2007. ABB Chongqing Transformer Co. Ltd., its largest transformer maker worldwide, has recently won a repeat order of $3.6 million from TRANSEND, an Australian company, to deliver two 200MVA three-phase autotransformers for the client’s transformer substation at Tasmania, Australia in early 2008.
This order is one more example of ABB China’s continuous successes in export business. In February 2007, ABB Zhongshan Transformer Co., Ltd. won a repeat order of $4 million from Singapore Power to provide two 200MVA power transformers. In March, the company won from Kuwait another order to supply a set of power transformers.
“ABB China’s continuous success in export business demonstrates that the reliable quality of our products is winning the trust from customers both in China and around the world.” said Dr. Brice Koch, Chairman and president of ABB China Ltd. “The products produced in China show ABB’s strong commitment in localization, shifting from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Designed in China’. The increasing investment of ABB China in research and development is essential to the business development in China.”
ABB established global research centers in Beijing and Shanghai and has strong R&D force in more than 20 local companies. As a leading power transformer enterprise of ABB in China, Chongqing Transformer Co. Ltd. is one of ABB’s global Focused Factory, possessing the world-class design and calculation ability for transformer production. Chongqing Transformer’s design team of about 50 members is still growing. Majority of them are serving for local customers, while the others are involved in supporting the design work for ABB’s plants in Germany and Sweden. “The products exported to Singapore and Australia this time are designed and manufactured locally by Chongqing Transformer and Zhongshan Transformer, which represent the highest technical level of China-originated transformers.” added Dr. Koch.
“China stresses the importance of its domestic independent innovation ability. For international brand like ABB, we will continue our effort in localizing our R&D and technological innovation, and developing local talent, so as to make our China local companies competitive also in international market. That’s ABB China’s strategy, and also our commitment to China.” explained Dr. Koch.
Currently, over 90% of ABB’s businesses in China are carried out with locally-originated products and services. Moreover, 99% of ABB China’s 11,000 employees are local. In this sense, ABB China is a local enterprise indeed. By 2007, ABB has invested $760m in construction and development of 25 companies in China. Apart from product exports, ABB China is also exporting product accessories, technical designs and services to many other countries, including the US, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden, etc.
ABB produces a complete portfolio of power transformer and distribution transformer products; high, medium and low voltage switchgear, motor, drive and etc. All these products have been well accepted by customers from China, which are widely used in many local industries and playing instrumental roles in some nation-level key projects. With the growing local design and production capability, ABB China-made transformers are becoming more and more accepted in global market.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 108,000 people worldwide. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and service, with 11,000 employees, 25 joint ventures and wholly owned companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 38 cities. To know more about ABB, visit www.abb.com.cn.