Genie continues to grow in China

Genie is celebrating its 20-year milestone at its wholly owned and operated production facility in Changzhou, China.

The plant continues to produce various Genie boom lifts, scissor lifts and the rough-terrain equipment.

"It has been a long, steady process, and the high standard that we have achieved in China shows that our strategy has delivered the right results," says Joe George, managing director of parent company Terex Global GmbH. "Today, our plant in Changzhou shares the same standardised quality systems and pre-delivery processes used at our other facilities and produces no less than 40 different Genie models. In addition to ramping up global production to cater for demand more rapidly, our facility in China is also highly customer-focused and flexible."

Remko Jonkergouw, manager - sales & marketing, HDW, Netherlands, recalls being a bit skeptical when he heard that the company would be receiving machines from Changzhou, "but with Genie, ‘Made in China’ is a different story".

"After receiving our first Chinese-built models a couple of years ago, it was clear that the level of quality was perfectly in line with our expectations. Better still, we find that the production management team in China is extremely customer-focused. They really listen to our technical feedback and implement improvements rapidly. At these competitive times, this is exactly what we need to maintain our customers’ confidence in Genie."

Another customer, Espen Johannessen, CEO of Hybeko, Norway, says:  "Overall, we are more than satisfied with the quality of all of the models that come from the Changzhou plant. I would even go as far as saying that for scissor lifts, this is probably the best quality we have ever had."

Genie entered the Chinese market in 1996. The first official project using Genie aerial equipment in the Chinese market was in the construction of a shipyard dock in Beihai, China. The safe and efficient way of operation with aerials presented a refreshing new mode for the Chinese shipbuilding industry, which had historically relied on scaffolding only. The success of the project led to tremendous market changes. For instance, the Beihai shipyard purchased over a hundred Genie products. The shipbuilding industry thus served as a key for Genie to open the door of the Chinese aerial market.

In 1998, Genie set up operations in Shanghai. Zhu Ximing, Genie general manager of Greater China, Terex AWP, was in the first generation of Genie China team members and has witnessed the company’s 20 years of development in the region.

"As in the early 1980s, Genie had already brought martial lifts to mainland China from Hong Kong. Nevertheless, at that time, few users recognised aerial equipment. Genie only sold about a dozen AWP products per year, but now this figure is reached easily by the shipment quantity of a single day," he notes.

In March 2011, Genie officially opened the Terex AWP Changzhou plant. This facility introduced local product manufacturing, parts distribution and a service centre to the Chinese market. It was an important step for the company to fulfill its global development strategy for the local market.

In June 2016, Genie held the opening ceremony for the second phase of the plant. Currently, the facility produces 40 Genie models, one of the most comprehensive aerial product lines in China from a single manufacturer, further consolidating the company’s position in the Chinese market.