International. Halton announced the opening of a new production unit of about 7,500 square meters near its existing factory, with a constructed area of 3,000 square meters, in the Lingang area of Shanghai.
The manufacture of Halton's professional kitchen solutions, such as kitchen hoods, ventilated ceilings and pollution control systems, will be transferred from the existing factory to the new one. The first will focus on manufacturing solutions provided by Halton's other business units for the China and Asia markets, such as Halton Marine's fire dampers and demolitionists and Halton Health's laboratory solutions. With the new factory, Halton aims to double its sales in China by 2025.
Halton has been steadily expanding its operations in China since 2005 when it opened its first manufacturing operation in the country. The current factory opened in 2010 and houses one of Halton's seven R&D centers, Halton Innovation Hubs. It is planned to move the Hub to the new factory facilities during 2020.
"The Chinese and Asian markets are huge and there is a strong demand for pollution control systems aimed at professional kitchens, for example, as well as high-quality solutions for indoor environments. In addition to the restaurant market, we see interesting opportunities in the corporate catering sector," says Georges Gaspar, Director of Halton Foodservice.
The new factory facility already houses a new showroom showcasing Halton's commercial kitchen solutions, such as the mobile cooking station, Halton MobiChef, the pollution control system, Halton PolluStop and the demand-based ventilation control system, Halton Marvel, as well as the ventilated roof and different hood technologies, such as the Halton Capture Jet.
"It is important to us that we can demonstrate our technologies and develop them close to our customers, and also together with them. It is important to our customers that we can offer them state-of-the-art solutions that also meet the requirements of the local market," says Mr. Gaspar.
Halton has approximately 110 employees in China, 60 of whom work in factory operations in the new production unit and 30 employees in the old one. The rest of the staff is involved in sales or administration.
The new factory opened on Friday, September 20, 2019 and the facility is now fully operational.
Halton's operations in China focus on professional kitchens and restaurants, ships, energy production environments and industrial segments, as well as laboratories and offices and world-class workspaces.
Halton's products and solutions are exported from China to different parts of Asia, including Japan, South Korea and India.
