SATRA’s expansion in China

As part of its continued expansion in China, SATRA is currently in the process of establishing a Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE) to replace the current Representative Office in Dongguan, China.

Heading up the venture will be Steve Rose, who takes on the responsibility of General Manager. He will be based in Dongguan to lead the SATRA Representative Office until the WFOE is established. Steve joined SATRA in 1978 and has considerable technical knowledge and experience in the footwear and leather industries. For the past eight years, he has spent significant time in China building working relationships with manufacturers, tanners, international brands and sourcing companies. Having already established a need for the unique technical, laboratory and production consultancy that SATRA can provide, Steve plans to develop this as one of his main objectives for the first year. He also plans to grow SATRA’s popular seminars and lectures series in the Far East, which he has been actively involved in from the start.

When asked about the main changes he has witnessed in Chinese manufacturing in the past decade, Steve mentioned that labour was the main factor. “Because of a shortage of labour and increasing labour rates, production efficiency is much more important now than when I first went to China on business,” he said.

As well as enhancing the service offered to customers in the Far East, the team in Dongguan will provide an important support function for SATRA staff visiting from the UK and the USA – especially when organising events – and in the delivery of a translation service.

“Steve is the perfect person for the job,” remarked SATRA Chief Executive, Austin Simmons. “The combination of his technical knowledge and his hands-on experience of working throughout the supply chain in China is extremely rare and valuable. SATRA was one of the first Western research and technology organisations to provide a technical partnership for consumer products industries with a Far East manufacturing base. The future set up of the WFOE with Steve as its General Manager will take it to the next level.”

Photograph shows SATRA representatives in China – from left: Sabrina Zhang, Steve Rose, Joan Huang, John Reed, Di Rose, Dean Ashworth and Canny Gan.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 2 of the June 2011 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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