Another interesting NKT presence in China is Nilfisk-Advance, which in the late 1990s exported cleaning equipment from Hong Kong to China. In 2001-2002, Nilfisk-Advance decided to set up a Shanghai sales office managed out of Hong Kong. Sales opportunities in China were interesting, and Nilfisk-Advance started looking into the possibilities of establishing own local manufacture. After thorough investigations “how and where” to set up the manufacture, 2004 saw the first vacuum cleaners roll off the production line.

“There were two strategic reasons for our wish to enter China. We could see a future market - and we saw a chance to utilise the lower costs of production to become more competitive,” says Jørgen Jensen, CEO of Nilfisk-Advance Group since 2005.

Initially, having established the sales office, Nilfisk-Advance saw positive developments and following the acquisition of ALTO another factory in China, was included in the Chinese portfolio.

“ALTO manufactured high-pressure cleaners, Nilfisk-Advance manufactured floor care equipment, and during 2005 and 2006 further productions were moved to China. Exports to Europe started moving fast, and we obtained big savings. But breakthrough had not yet been achieved for sales in China. This breakthrough came in 2007 when Nilfisk-Advance acquired the Chinese cleaning equipment manufacturer, Viper Group and thereby achieved an efficient, nationwide Chinese sales organisation. This meant a very considerable boost in sales for Nilfisk-Advance,” says Jørgen Jensen.

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