Italian factory automation component supplier Carlo Gavazzi Automation (CGA) has selected Singapore as the base from which to expand its Asia Pacific activities. The regional office, which was officially opened on Dec. 8, becomes the hub for sales and marketing, technical support and IT services, as well as the coordination point for CGA’s Kunshun (China) factory.
“Our customers in Asia must be served by Asia,” said chief executive officer Dino Masili, who flew in from Europe to officiate at the opening ceremony, along with Carlo Gavazzi Group Chairman Werner Welti.
Acknowledging that the company’s market share in the region is relatively low (0.2 percent), the S$5 million (Singapore dollars, $3 million U.S dollars) infrastructure investment that CGA is making is in anticipation of Asia Pacific being its fastest growing sector over the next few years, with Singapore, Malaysia and China leading the surge. Some S$30 million (US$18 million) in revenue is expected through the new office over the next three years.
“Singapore, as gravitation point of Asia Pacific, offers to us a lot of valuable assets. Next to many other benefits, such as free-trade agreements with the surrounding countries and a top infrastructure, it also offers excellent staff with high level education. Singapore represents to us an ideal springboard to the entire Asia Pacific region,” said Welti, explaining the reasons for locating the regional office in Singapore.
In an interview, Masili said that the Singapore government, through the Economic Development Board (EDB) had been a “great help” to Carlo Gavazzi in setting up the office in record time. Already with a staff of 12 at the new Paya Lebar premises, CGA expects this to double in the next two years, with another 25 people to be located around the region.
CGA products—which include sensors, relays, safety devices, and the Dupline fieldbus—find their way into discrete automation applications including material handling equipment, packaging machines, and building control systems.
About the author
Bob Gill, [email protected], is editor in chief of Industrial Automation magazine in Singapore.
