“The construction site for the new Haulotte plant at Changzhou, in China, is going well. Construction began in November, 2020, and is right on schedule,” Hubert Moreau is delighted to report. The plant is set to open its doors in 2022, as planned.
Yet the COVID crisis has not made things easy. It has been impossible to travel to the site! “We have managed everything remotely, with the support of the Haulotte Changzhou teams: the plans, the call for tenders, the choice of builder, the purchase of the land and the start of construction,” Hubert tells us.
We will be able to manufacture all the machines in our Haulotte range on this new site to serve the Chinese market more efficiently!
The first factory was created in 2010 to meet the needs of a market in its very early stages. However, today “this site is reaching the end of its capacity. We can only offer a third of the group’s machine portfolio and, as there is not enough room, machine stocks are at an external logistics platform,” explains Hubert. Conversely, the new site will be able to manufacture all of the Haulotte machines, from the 6 m lift platform to the 43 m platform.
The stated objective is clear: “increase our market share in China, in an environment where 70% of sales are pre-empted by Chinese giants. Despite an increase in demand in double figures, the offer is growing even more quickly. This new plant will enable us to be more competitive and respond to local needs, providing machines in a very short time frame”, says Hubert Moreau. To put it in a nutshell, the stakes are enormous, and our ambitions are clear: “consolidate and strengthen our place on THE WORLD’S LARGEST MARKET”!
One site for the factory and the subsidiary
The concept itself will be completely innovative. With a surface area of 44,000 m², the building will be erected on a plot covering 80,000 m². In addition to the factory there will be a serial life unit and the subsidiary. All the ingredients are there to create synergies between the different trades. “We are also going to optimize the working environment, based on the work carried out for H3. We have very strong aims in terms safety and the environment. For example, with a 4.0 approach, we will drastically reduce paper and digitalize the production workstations,” continues Hubert Moreau.
“More and more people are involved in this undertaking. Today around 80 people are taking part. However, our primary objective is for the local teams to “own” this project. For the time being, just over sixty employees are working on the current site,” notes Hubert Moreau. They will be the basis of the new factory and we will subsequently increase the numbers.”
A lire aussi
A Friday Talk About CSR
Success guaranteed!
lire la suite
iDays: once again, an award-winning idea comes to fruition!
Since our last edition of TOGETHER, the iDays prizewinner ideas have continued to develop! Today, after the BIG CLEANING DAY...
lire la suite
Europe teams reunited at H3 seminar
Our European sales forces and the management committees of our subsidiaries all met up from 13 to 16 September for...
lire la suite
