Career Overview:

A Mechanical Engineer with more than 32 years’ experience in Engineering, Maintenance, Manufacturing and Management obtained in China, Croatia, Australia, Italy and Switzerland. Currently employed in MAN Diesel & Turbo China Production Co., Ltd. as Managing Director.

Company Introduction of MAN Diesel & Turbo China Production Co., Ltd.：

MAN Diesel & Turbo China Production Co., Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of MAN Diesel & Turbo SE, a company in the Power Engineering business area of MAN SE. It was established in Changzhou in 2007 and it is the first production site outside Europe.

The company starts operations in November 2008 with a working area extended to 26,000 square meters in 2011, which includes a production hall area of 22,000 square meters.

It has, Design, R&D, Production and Sales of Steam Turbines, Turbo-compressors, Turbocharges, Silencers, Slide bearings and relevant mechanical components and parts, and related technical consulting, service, maintenance, installation and after sales services.

In 2013, it opened PrimeServ branches in Shanghai, Beijing, Zhoushan, Dalian and Shenzhen, to extend the after-sales business and be close to the customers.

At the beginning of 2014 it merged Beijing office which includes Sales and Contracts, System Procurement and Field Service functions, in order to maximize the synergies of our business activities. Together with its talented sales team, the company will better serve the needs of local Chinese customers by their competitive product portfolio and service capacities.

By end of 2014, it had almost 500 employees located in Changzhou and in all branches.

Interview:

1. CIIP: I know the first facility of MAN Turbo Changzhou was set up in 2007. Can you tell us briefly why did MAN choose Changzhou and why did the headquarter decide to increase investment in 2013? What features about this city are unique to other places of consideration?

Answer by SK : After assessment in various locations, we decided to invest in Changzhou, Wujin. As we have seen the convenient and efficient logistics, well-developed infrastructure, competitive labor cost with qualified talents, well-connected network to suppliers,  business partners and customers. Last but not least, we were impressed by the profession and efficiency of Changzhou and Wujin government  during the decision-making process.

After 5 years operation in Changzhou, we were convinced that we made the right decision. In 2013, with increasing market share rate, MAN Diesel & Turbo saw more possibilities for further development and progress in the future. Thus we decided to increase the investment again by 7.5 million Euro to have the total investment of 92.5 million Euro at MAN Diesel & Turbo China Production Co., Ltd to extend our production capacity and product range. Meanwhile we gradually improved the network of the sales and after-sales service in China by establishing the branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Zhoushan, Shenzhen and sales office in  Hangzhou where most of our customers for Air separation Plants are located.

2. CIIP: In face of mounting downward economic pressure, what concrete measures have your company taken to maintain the growth momentum?

Answer by SK : 1) Legal restructuring and governance: opened new branches in 6 cities in 2013 and merged our activities of new equipment sales in Beijing office of another MDT trading company from Shanghai in 2014. With a total of almost 500 employees we reached optimum size, considering shared services and lean management, to have efficient organization offering opportunities for further synergies and future challenges from market opportunities. All of these movements show clear mind to put customers’ requirements in focus by optimizing the costs and offering better services and more attractive products. 2) Production optimization and localization: With a total investment of 92.5 million Euro into our production facility in Changzhou we have not only made a major commitment to the country, but we also face significant responsibility to manage and utilize the investment. Hosting various business segments of our Headquarter with their own characteristics put us in front of challenges to satisfy the customers with actual product portfolio and pull new products localization at the other side to enlarge our scope. We are working constantly on product and structure costs optimization, on production efficiency improvement, on new capacity and skills development to maintain our leading position on the market. As you see we are mostly concentrating on four directions to maintain our stable growth: organization, cost optimization, productivity improvement and product portfolio enlargement through new localization.

3. CIIP: I know you won the “Changzhou’s Honorary Citizens” award in 2013. Can you tell us how significant this recognition is to you? How does it impact your life?

Answer by SK : I worked in several different countries and cities in my professional career in the past, this was the first time that I got the award of honorary citizen. Not only of Changzhou city, but also of Wujin district. I am very proud of that and feel big responsibility towards the City where I live and work, towards government and citizens of Wujin and Changzhou and towards all employees in our company who give daily contribution in company development and positive image creation. As honorary citizen I feel that I am part of this city and closer to the local Changzhou Ren. This year I had my first, unique and important experience to be invited to Chinese New Year dinner in one Chinese family. They are my neighbors. It was really surprised for me as foreigner to be invited to the most important family reunion dinner in the year. Wonderful people and delicious      food. I was working all day to give also my small contribution – home made Croatian sausages, with all ingredients and equipment bought in Changzhou.

4. CIIP: What’s your expectation of the Changzhou facility with regard to the overall developmental plan of MAN Diesel &Turbo in China?

Answer by SK : We have to maintain stable growth in our Changzhou facility by assuring new products localization and penetration to the market segments in China where we were not present until now for various reasons. We see big chances on Power generation, LNG and Gas Storage market. Basically on the markets strongly linked to the clean energy production that contributes to better environment. In our product portfolio we have suitable products for these applications as steam turbines, gas turbines and compressors, and we have to localize their production in Changzhou. Furthermore we are not limited by our Headquarter only to local-for-local production, but also have chances in local-for-global where we would like to make our contribution to MDT’s further development globally.

5. CIIP: Do you have any comments where there could be improvements in the cooperation between Changzhou government with MAN Group? 

Answer by SK : My experience is positive. We have established this company for 8 years until now, and have thus enjoyed favorable policies from the local government, thanks to which we had the possibility to maintain good business performance. Of course we expect to be given continuous support in the coming years.

6. CIIP: May we know some of the challenges you face professionally as you work in MAN Turbo Changzhou in the coming years?

 Answer by SK : Continuous high salary increase in China may reduce the competitiveness of labor cost that started to be one of main concerns for foreign companies., RMB appreciation towards Euro started already to influence our overall product costs and will be big challenge to maintain competitiveness of Changzhou production.  Impact of the actual low oil price is visible in our Headquarter where we produce the compressors for Oil & Gas and related industries, but started to reflect also here in China on big coal-to-liquid or coal-to-gas projects that were in pipeline, but actually frozen due to the market uncertainty. Our Changzhou production is mainly dedicated to machines for air separation plants that are essential for further transformation of coal to synthetic fuel or gas. Therefore, as you see, a lot of external uncertain factors will limit our visibility for top line growth.

7. CIIP: Since you have been here for more than 3 years, can you tell us the most significant changes you have observed or experienced in Changzhou from the time you first came here till now?

 Answer by SK :. Things are changing fast here in Changzhou. We can witness rapid urban and industrial development. Can you count  new factories that opened in the last three years, international schools, new shopping malls with cinemas and various kinds of shops and restaurants, new luxury 5 stars hotels, new accommodation condominiums , villas and new parks, recreational facilities, gyms and swimming pools, new streets… For sure it’s not easy to count all of them. City is changing rapidly and growing maintaining healthy equilibrium between various above-mentioned facilities. Public transport is well organized, and according to my personal experience, quite efficient. Changzhou started to build metro line 1 which is just the beginning of a metro net. More and more new cars are on the streets, mostly medium to high class as a symbol of fast wealth growth. And really big changes are more and more public awareness and concerns in some actual, important and critical topics like air pollution and anti-corruption. I think that these are the most significant and visible changes happened in the last three years. I am happy to continue to be witness of further development of my Changzhou.