From Trading to MaManufacture and R&D
Article

From Trading to MaManufacture and R&D

Geo-Allen

Based in the beautiful Chinese city of Suzhou, here called ‘the heaven on earth', Geo-allen is a manufacturer and distributor of survey instruments and accessories. The company both introduces Chinese items to the world market and brings oversees commodities to the Chinese marketplace.

Geo-allen was founded in 2002 by George Yuan and his team, capitalising on the combined expertise of several individuals already experienced in the field. Some had a background in export, some in manufacturing, and some were engineers; together it seemed they had the basics for a company and a bright future. The main focus initially was on survey instruments, accessories and overseas market trading, and they acted as agent for other large Chinese producers and manufacturers such as FOIF, BOIF, South and Kolida. The goal markets were Europe and North America. Soon a research and development (R&D) department was created, marking the start of accessory production activities.


Three Factories
Nowadays Geo-allen possesses three factories, all based in the New District of Suzhou Hi-Tech, one of the fastest developing zones in the world. One of the three Geo-allen manufacturing plants produces items like poles and reflecting sets; a second concentrates on various kinds of adaptors, and the third makes levelling staffs. The export department is also based in Suzhou, staffed by several sales persons and two engineers.

Burgeoning Sales
Having its own R&D dept, the company has the capability to shorten the design and production chain from buyer's special demand to manufacture, and design new products according to team market forecasts. While the first business year saw export revenue of over USD1,000,000.00, annual sales are currently increasing by an average of more than 15% and cover almost the whole globe, including East and West Europe, the Americas, Eastern and Western Asia, Africa, and Oceania.

Business is Friendship
Geo-allen plans to continuing growing and developing. All staff efforts are focused in this direction, from the R&D team, to business, sales and after-sales-service. Staff numbers over all three plants now totals more than a hundred. According to Yuan, "Taking the target of best service, best quality and best prices, we have the policy to see business also as friendship, making friends at the same time as doing business." With eight years experience in export and manufacturing and a DNV ISO9000 certification, the company is aiming for a high-level reputation, working with different customers all over the world and creating good relationships with other suppliers. Several kinds of co-operation are being sought with different producers and manufacturers; these sometimes invest in the factories of their partner companies, ask them to produce Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) products for them, or expand their markets.

Customised Products
Now capable of presenting a full series of items for survey and construction, Geo-allen wants to meet all kinds of international customer demand, supplying auto levels, optical and digital theodolites, total-stations, laser equipment, digital levels, GPS, and various accessories including tripods, tribrachs, reflecting sets, prism poles, levelling staffs, ranging poles, adaptors, or new items developed to a customer's own design specifications or recommended manufacturing process.

Rising Renminbi
The now ubiquitous global economic recession has meant a drop in sales income since the end of 2008, and this has increased pressure on the company.


It still being a comparative newcomer to the field, times have been hard for Geo-allen. But neither does it share general optimistic expectations for the near future. The corporate conviction here is that the world economic situation this year will fall short of predicted, especially for Chinese exporters. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, a rising exchange rate between Chinese (RMB) and American (USD) currencies, increasing the value of the RMB. In addition, export capabilities will be affected, and Geo-allen also expects escalating costs of both raw materials and Chinese labour.

Future Prospects
Geo-allen is currently working on building co-operative relationships with other manufacturers, and hopes to have its own OEM total-station ready for market early this year.
It is trying to expand its share of the Chinese domestic market, and is continuing to develop new accessories to meet world market demands.


In summation, the founder of the company is confident that with its experience of step-by-step working over past years, its service methods and R&D capability, Geo-allen can be sure of a beautiful future. President George Yuan: "We say, welcome to a bright new decade!"

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