Schneider confirms commitment to the Chinese energy market

We need to be able to control our energy as easily as we are able to control an iPod, Noel Girard, Schneider Electric's strategic marketing vice-president told delegates to the global energy management company's conference and trade show. Billed as Initiative-Solution Day, the event saw 3,000 of the company's customers and university specialists gather to discuss energy efficiency in China.

Guy Dufraisse, Schneider Electric's China president, told the conference: We see great potential for power management in China's building and automation markets during 2009. These are sectors that we can provide energy efficient solutions for.

To achieve true breakthroughs in energy management and really make the most of what we have, we need simple solutions.

The near future presents bold macroeconomic challenges but also remarkable opportunities that will allow us to grow stronger. Despite the economic climate, we remain exceedingly optimistic. This is due to soaring energy demands and massive increases in infrastructure investment.

The event, which opened late last month, gave its 3,000 visitors the chance to learn more about Schneider Electric's energy efficient solutions through its 70 seminars, 100 information booths and three demo centers, all of which were spread over 4,000 square meters of floor space.

The packed conference saw the company highlight a number of key global trends. It also demonstrated how Schneider is tackling a number of global challenges, including the emergence of new economies, the need for global connectivity and the continuing importance of energy as a world resource. The company also outlined its belief that simplicity was increasingly the key demand of all of its customers.

Despite the gloomy economic outlook, the conference remained overwhelmingly upbeat. The company maintains that its evolution from delivering products to solutions gives it every cause to remain optimistic.

The company cited the 100 solutions and 300 enabling products on display during the course of the event as proof of its continuing success. A number of the products on show, according to the company, can reduce energy consumption by up to 30 percent in five principal markets: energy and infrastructure, industry, data centers and networks, buildings and residential markets.

Last year, the company generated revenue of 3.4 billion euros (30 billion yuan) in the Asia-Pacific region. During the period 2005-2008, Schneider Electric boosted its business by an annual increment of around 10 percent each year, well ahead of the growth of most companies in the sector.

Dufraisse said: We achieved our sales target in China in the first half of last year, however, our business slowed due to the global economy downturn in the second half, but we still saw remarkable growth in 2008. Although nobody knows when the crisis will end, we won't change our long-term commitment to China. We will continue to invest in this robust market, which is full of potential.

Dufraise said he considered the industry downturn as an opportunity for his company to refine its internal processes:

In this situation, we are firstly making efforts to improve our customer satisfaction. Secondly, we will pay attention to cost control. However, it does not mean that we will cut investment.

We will exercise our investment across a number of niches. We are always looking to markets that are rich in potential, such as railways and infrastructure development. We believe we can be successful by providing solutions to further save energy and boost efficiency in these sectors.

The evolution from delivering products to solutions has seen the company recruiting greater number of more industry and IT engineers, as well as solutions professionals. This is against a backdrop of many other multinational and local companies reducing their workforce.

Dufraiuse said: Last year we recruited 2,000 new employees and this year we promise no workforce reductions in our company. Moreover, we will put more investment in our personnel training.

The healthy organic financial increase in recent years has made Schneider Electric confident in the viability of China's market.

Source: China Daily