Gerber's New Motto: In China We Trust
Tolland, Conn.–based Gerber Technology Inc. is putting its future in China. The maker of cutting-room equipment, CAD/CAM software and product development applications acknowledged China’s position as a manufacturing leader when it opened up in Hong Kong in 1980. As Jan. 1, 2005, nears, the day when worldwide quotas will end for World Trade Organization members, the company is ramping up its investments to prepare for a new generation of trade.
To get the ball rolling, Gerber officially opened a new Advanced Technology Center on Sept. 7 in Shanghai. The center acts as the company’s design lab and features an assortment of wares, including automated spreading and cutting systems, plotters and CAD equipment, and WebPDM product lifecycle management systems.
The 27,000-square-foot facility is a venue for software testing, system training, customer telephone support, local product development, engineering and strategic purchasing. The center includes a laboratory for research and development.
The opening kicked off a week of events for Gerber. The company hosted a banquet for 600 dignitaries, distributors and customers at the landmark Shanghai Grand Theatre and participated in the CISMA (China International Sewing Machinery & Accessories) trade show, held at the new Shanghai International Expo Center. The company also sponsored a technology conference and rolled out its second piece of domestically produced hardware—the Infinity AEII inkjet plotter, which was made in China for the Chinese market. While manufacturing in the United States continues to wane, Gerber sees a bright future in China.
“It is already clear that China will be one of the winners, and it is already clear from the standpoint of Gerber that the growth we previously experienced in North America and Europe in the ’80s and Japan in the mid-’80s will happen again for us, but this time in China,” Gerber President James Arthurs told banquet guests, including James C. Leonard III, deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
China is the company’s largest export market and second-largest business market after the United States. The country controls 25 percent of world apparel production. Its domestic market has also blossomed as its consumption has grown to $65 billion, with 10 percent of consumer spending going toward apparel. When Gerber opened a bureau in 1980, the country’s exports were at $2 billion. They now stand at $52 billion.
Automation will be essential to further growth, Arthurs said.
“To accomplish the growth forecasts attributed to China by its own government, by the International Monetary Fund, by the United Nations, by the World Bank, and by the World Trade Organization, there is no doubt in our minds that the apparel, furniture and automotive industries we serve in China are going to automate at a faster rate than ever before,” Arthurs said. “There will be winners, and there will be losers among both countries and companies, and the challenges will be there for producers of machinery, apparel manufacturers, sourcing agents, brands and retailers.”
Gerber has installed more than $140 million worth of systems in China and currently has more than 1,500 customers. While U.S. domestic manufacturers see China as a threat, others—including importers and companies that outsource—see technology growth as a way to get products to the U.S. market faster.
