16.03.2022

Skyjack to manufacture in China

Linamar has signed an investment agreement with the Government of Binhai New Area, Tianjin to manufacture Skyjack products for the Asia-Pacific region.

Initially Skyjack will develop and utilise space and resources within Linamar’s existing Tianjin plant, to manufacturer Skyjack’s slab electric DC scissor lift models for the domestic Chinese market.
The company is also increasing its sales and service operations in China to target the growing rental industry. As part of the process, it has appointed Chan Tran as vice president of operations for Asia-Pacific. As volume grows, Skyjack will invest in a dedicated purpose built facility on the same estate as the Linamar plant. The unit built at the facility will ultimately serve China and regional markets, as part of a programme to build machines closer to the markets where they are sold.
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The Linamar Tianjin facility

Linamar chief executive Linda Hasenfratz said: “The Asian market has started to grow in a meaningful way in recent years making the establishment of in region manufacturing not just viable but highly opportunistic. We believe this will create excellent growth potential for Skyjack in the region both in terms of creating a close connection to the needs of our customers in the region and in terms of building our distribution network.”

Skyjack president Ken McDougall added: “I particularly want to pay tribute to the local government of the Binhai New Area for their help and assistance in securing this plan. We look forward to our continued partnership as we expand our Asian footprint. Utilising a more global footprint also releases existing production capacities in our existing plants across the globe. That in turn will allows us to better react to growing customer demand in those markets.”
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Alisa Kou of Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone and Chan Tran of Skyjack sign the agreement. In the back row (L-R) Grace Yun of Linamar, M Shan of Binhai New Area Tianjin, M. Hong of Tianjin Port Free Trade Area and Bill Zhang- Skyjack Tianjin

Chan Tran said: “The Skyjack Tianjin facility is forecast to go into production in the third quarter pf 2023 and manufacture DC scissor lifts and boom lifts. Linamar entered the China market in 2005 and with five facilities and one research and development centre, I believe the relationship and physical footprint can be significantly leveraged should the need arise.”