Gear Manufacturers Find Advantage in Indian and Asian Partners

摘要

In 2003, Mini Gears faced the prospect of losing 40 percent of its business to China. Major customers wanted product from the U.K. company at substantially lower prices and were looking at going direct to China to get them. Mini Gears, however, was able to retain all of that business and has since increased its sales more than 46 percent, says Paul Darwent, the company's managing director, The difference was Mini Gears' purchasing office in Shanghai, China. Opened just a year earlier, the office provided Mini Gears with a way to turn would-be competitors into beneficial partners. Likewise, many U.S. and European gear manufacturers may be able to take advantage of lower-cost products from Indian, Chinese and other Pacific Rim companies by partnering with them. Besides Mini Gears, Schafer Gear Works Inc. and Precipart Corp. have benefited from their own overseas partnerships. Located in Indiana, Schafer Gear is able to obtain lower-priced forgings from its Indian partner, JayPee Forge Ltd.