18 Jul 2008
Moving towards innovation
The China market is booming, and change and development have happened fast for Group company Guli.
Traditionally, Guli has been known in China for manufacturing bored locks, but in 2004 it started to expand its range. Today it manufactures seven product categories.
Jeffrey Zhang, managing director of Guli, says the challenge now is to become even more competitive in the China market. Maintaining low cost and high quality is still a priority, but now the focus is more on innovation. “To stay profitable we have created a strong and responsible innovation team,” Zhang says. “Now we see that we can be very fast in our product development and develop high-quality products.”
Guli will have more new products coming in 2008 than in the last 10 years. “2007 was a learning year on how to improve our product development, especially about discovering customer needs,” Zhang says.
The first product that went through the Group’s new common Product Innovation Process for product development successfully is a rim lock for the residential market which was launched in April this year. The product development time was six months from idea to launch. In all five commercial and three residential products are in the pipe-line for launch during 2008. ”We intend to become a low-cost product developer that customers can source from. Innovation is where our future lies,” Zhang concludes.
Facts about Guli
• Guli has been part of ASSA ABLOY since 2001 and is located in Xiaolang, Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province, Southern China.
• Employees: 2,000.
• Products manufactured: Electromechanical locks, door closers, window hardware, rim locks, mortise locks, bored locks, cylinders.
• The site covers 60,000 square meters.
• Sales: Currently mainly for export. Strategy is to focus more on the domestic market and increase market share in the commercial business segment.
• Cited by local authorities as best practice in the environment, health and safety areas of sustainability.