Originally Published EMDM October 2005
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
How Do You Say “Wow”
in Chinese?
“China: Threat or Opportunity?” is the title of a business report that showed up in my inbox recently. I suppose the answer to that question has a lot to do with your line of work. Having just returned from MEDTEC China, I can tell you this much, though: If you’re involved in medical technology, don’t waste time asking questions. Just go.
The first MEDTEC China trade show and conference was jointly organized in mid-September by Canon Communications llc, which publishes EMDM, and the China Association for Medical Devices Industry (CAMDI) in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen. Guangdong province, where Shenzhen is located, is a manufacturing Mecca with a significant med-tech presence. We knew the region had all of the right elements to host a successful show, but we were still taken by surprise. So were many exhibitors.
Day one of the show began with a uniquely Chinese display of pageantry. Welcome speeches by CAMDI chairman Jiang Feng, representatives of other medical device associations, local dignitaries, and Canon Communications president and CEO William Cobert were followed by a boisterous lion dance. The dancers weaved their way through the exhibition hall, officially opening the show, followed by a cortege of VIPs. And then the floodgates opened. Hundreds of people poured through the doors, a flow that would be largely uninterrupted the rest of the day. (Over the three days, more than 5500 people visited the show, according to show organizers.)
Exhibitors were simultaneously overwhelmed and ecstatic. Many of them ran out of brochures and business cards by early afternoon. On-the-spot requests to buy equipment were respectfully declined, as suppliers had only brought demonstration models. It was an eye-opening experience for many of the companies, whose knowledge of the Chinese market often was limited to serving existing customers who had set up joint ventures. It did not come as a surprise, though, to François Berry or Jean-François Bauer.
Berry is president of Cartolux, a thermoforming company headquartered near Thiers, France, that supplies packaging systems to multinational med-tech companies. His presence at MEDTEC China was an opportunity to promote a 2900-sq-m thermoforming facility with a Class 10,000 cleanroom that he is building in Suzhou, near Shanghai. It is scheduled to be operational by January 2006. Berry knew for some time that his company’s knowhow and focus on quality would be well received in China, but he waited to find the “right people” before taking the plunge.
“Two years ago, I made the acquaintance of a gentleman from China with a medical degree who was working with a French orthopaedics firm,” says Berry. Before long, he was on the Cartolux payroll. “We toured the region together looking for the right place to set up a facility. We settled on Suzhou because it had a large number of high-technology and Western companies. It was easier to find topflight engineers there than in other places we visited, and that was important,” says Berry.
For Jean-François Bauer, marketing manager at Mikron Assembly Technology, exhibiting at MEDTEC China was also part of a larger strategy. Headquartered in Boudry, Switzerland, the group’s plastics technology division already has a presence in Suzhou. Now, the company is preparing to set up a Chinese sales and service office for its assembly technology business, which has a long history of supplying assembly equipment to multinational medical-technology OEMs. Again, a company culture steeped in quality is one of the primary selling points.
For a small country like Switzerland that relies so heavily on exports, ignoring China is simply not an option, notes Bauer. “As the economy grows, this market will need to be fed, and we intend to be the feeders of technology.” In today’s world, “you can’t just cross your arms, wait, and hope for the best,” says Bauer.
And why would you? Canon Communications has announced the addition of a second show and conference in Shanghai in June 2006. That will be followed by a September event in Guangzhou.
Incidentally, and in case you’re wondering, one Chinese expression for “wow” is “liaobuqi!” If you’re thinking about attending one of the upcoming shows, you might want to practice saying that.
Copyright ©2005 European Medical Device Manufacturer
