09.03.2012

Dingli to add new production facility

Chinese aerial lift manufacturer Dingli has laid the foundation Stone for a new production facility with the capacity to produce 6,000 units a year.

The new plant, located in the Deqing Linhang Industrial Zone, near to its existing headquarters to the west of Shanghai, was announced with a official ceremony held last month. Guests included members of the government, including Zhang Xiaoqiang - secretary of the county committee, along with representatives Zhu Fagen, Pan Huaming, and Wen Hongquan.

In his address to the guests, Dingli’s chief executive Xu Shugen said: “Dingli is growing very fast at this time, and with this new plant our objective is to establish a modern aerial work platform production centre, combining Research & Development, manufacturing, sales and service.”
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Dingli’s chief executive Xu Shugen addresses the guests

The company is investing 321 million Yuan ($51/€38 million) in the new facility, which is expected to achieve annual revenues of 400 million Yuan ($63/48 million), with a profit and tax of 90 million Yuan ($14/11 million) each.
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The foundation stone laying ceremony

Vertikal Comment

Aerial lift production in China is ramping up at a far more rapid pace than the local market will bear in the short term, no matter how big the country. The fact is the current low GNP per capita will inevitably put a brake on uptake, in spite of a major safety push by the authorities, which will of course help.

This means that at least in the short term export will be crucial to keeping plants such as this one busy and vibrant. Dingli is leading the way when it comes to adapting its products to suit western markets and expectations, especially at smaller end with its slab electric scissor lifts and self-propelled personnel lifts. At this end of the market there are a good few buyers who will give a new supplier a try..if the price is right - the same is not true though for larger machines.

The next and most important step of course is getting the distribution and branding right, especially if it wants to sell larger models. Without question this is also the most challenging and the most difficult thing to do quickly.

However Dingli does seem to be fast learner, and it will need to be, with the expectation of over $10,000 a unit in terms of revenues, it will need to include a fair few larger machines in the mix to achieve this.