For Timken, the world's third largest bearing manufacturer, its tag line
"Where You Turn" has a double meaning.
"It means that you find Timken products and technologies wherever parts move
and turn," says James Gresh, Timken China president. "But it (also) means that
we are the company our customers turn to or depend on."
Now, the company itself is turning more and more to China, currently a small
part of its global business, to try and lure more clients from industries such
as rail, automotive, and aerospace.
The company first came to China in 1996 through a joint venture in Yantai,
East China's Shandong Province. It took full ownership of the Yantai operations
in 2001.
Now, Timken has created a holding company, a distribution centre, an import
and export company, and a customer engineering and service team.
"We are just getting started," says Gresh. "We are truly dedicated to the
long term growth of Timken in China. We have been growing at a rate of more than
20 per cent each year and have aspirations to double our sales here again by the
end of the decade."
Last year the company's global sales rose to a record US$5.2 billion, over
twice what it was three years before. It doubled profitability over 2004, with
2005 earnings per share of US$2.81.
Gresh declined to give sales figures for China, only saying sales revenue was
US$290 million for the Asian market last year.
The sales figures from China now are comparatively small, Gresh admits, but
it's also their number one growth priority in the world.
"From Timken's first manufacturing steps in China at our Yantai plant in
1996, we have grown our China team to more than 3,500 associates who represent
an important part of our 27,000 associates worldwide," he says.
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