Imaging company growing, changing along with China

Dedication to China

Before coming to China, Ranganathan worked in Malaysia for four years, leading the company's operations both in the Indian subcontinent and the whole of Southeast Asia. In the two years Ranganathan has spent in China, he visited a dozen cities across the country and the infrastructure impressed him.

"Even when I go to a small mountain city for a vacation with my friends here, I see fantastic infrastructure. So it's been a very good experience so far," he said.

With more than 30 years' operation in China, Agfa has witnessed changes of the country and expanded its presence with more offices, business partners and customers. It has made Shanghai the company's Asia-Pacific regional headquarters, built a factory in Wuxi, Jiangsu province and opened subsidiaries in cities like Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

"We brought most of our global portfolio of products and solutions into China and trained a lot of clinicians to use our products effectively," Ranganathan said. "The factory here manufactures some of our equipment portfolio and supplies to quite a few destinations outside of China."

As China's local talent pool grows, it is not just a production base for multinationals. Many years ago, the research and development teams of Agfa in Shanghai were been established, gradually shifting their focus in various technologies for the company's research demands.

Besides making tailored features for domestic products, the R&D team in China also contributes to global projects, such as healthcare IT solutions for radiology, and some features developed by the Chinese team have been used to enhance the company's products globally.

The revenue generated in China could be anywhere between 10 to 15 percent of Agfa's global total. But Ranganathan thinks commercial success can be measured by more than sales.

"People have been a big part of our commercial success. We have installed a large and loyal base of customers, with our solutions being used from the top-tier hospitals of China down to small private clinics," he said. "Some colleagues here have worked with us for more than 25 years, so the width and the breadth of our presence in China, our longevity, have built a strong relationship and brand recognition for our customers."