22.01.2014 – Twenty years ago, Linde Material Handling took the opportunity to become the first foreign manufacturer in China. Initially founded as a joint venture, the company opened its own factory in Xiamen, on the south-west coast of China, not long afterwards. From this site, the new Linde company rapidly developed into the biggest and most successful non-Chinese supplier of industrial trucks. Linde (China) Forklift Truck Ltd. is still by far the most successful industrial truck brand amongst foreign suppliers in China, as well as market leader ahead of all other manufacturers in the electric forklift truck and warehouse technology device segments. The company employs more than 2500 staff at its headquarters in Xiamen and across the country at over 100 sales and service support points.
To coincide with the 20th anniversary, the 100,000th truck was delivered from the Chinese production facility. „Our recipe for success in China is that we don’t just focus on local sales structures, but at the same time have expanded both our product portfolio and our plant and development capacities and supply the market from our plant in Xiamen“, emphasises Theodor Maurer, CEO of Linde Material Handling. He adds that Linde MH now benefits from significant competitive advantages as it entered the Chinese market at an early stage.
„Over the last 20 years, Linde has set the standards in terms of product quality and service, and it now benefits from a good reputation and high level of trust amongst its customers“, confirms Maurer. This is because Linde has not only created a closely-knit sales and service network, but has also produced a total of 19 different series of trucks and warehouse technology devices in accordance with lean management specifications. To increase capacity for market-specific product developments, Linde (China) FLT expanded its research and development centre at the Xiamen headquarters in 2011. It also has a separate, ISO 9001-certified spare parts warehouse that contains 17,200 different items and provides rapid service and a high level of spare parts availability.
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