Local firms among the first in China

For some Rochester manufacturers, China was on the map long before the world’s most populous country emerged as a significant global competitor.
Gleason Corp.’s roots in China trace back two decades, said William Simpson, vice president of global supply chain. In April, the firm celebrated the 20th anniversary of its sales and service operation in Beijing.
“Gleason was one of the very first companies in China” after Mao Zedong established the People’s Republic in 1949, Simpson said. “So we have a long-established footprint in the Chinese market, selling our products across the regions within China.”
The firm now has a joint venture company, Gleason Yi Gong Cutting Tools Co. Ltd., in Harbin, and a wholly owned manufacturing facility, Gleason Gear Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.
Also marking two decades in China is Bausch & Lomb Inc. The company began its vision care business in that country in 1986 through a joint venture with a Chinese manufacturer of optical and camera lenses, spokeswoman Barbara Kelley said. Bausch & Lomb had some sales offices prior to that, but the joint venture was its real entry, she noted.
The Chinese operation began selling products in 1987.
“While we expected it would take several years to get the business going, it was successful almost immediately,” Kelley said. “There was a large population needing vision correction.”
In those days, she said, it took a long time to get a pair of glasses in China.
“So the idea that you could go into an optical shop and walk out being able to see better was very attractive,” Kelley said.
Since then, Bausch & Lomb has expanded its reach, and China has evolved into a critical growth market for the company. A couple of years ago it acquired a 55 percent interest in China’s Shandong Chia Tai Freda Pharmaceutical Group from Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. for $200 million in cash.
Rochester’s largest manufacturer, Eastman Kodak Co., began its big push into the Chinese market in 1998, with an investment of more than $1.3 billion. The move grew Kodak’s market share, but it has not been a smooth ride for the photo giant.
After a strong year in 2004, Kodak’s film sales in China began to slump in early 2005. In June of that year, President and CEO Antonio Perez conceded that digital substitution had begun to significantly dampen results, saying that film sales in China “have peaked.”
In the second quarter this year, the company said it had completed the sale of its manufacturing facility in Xiamen, China.
-Smriti Jacob

09/14/07 (C) Rochester Business Journal