Barco officially opened its new healthcare R&D center and production plant in Suzhou, China.
This investment is part of Barco’s ambition to further penetrate the high growth Chinese healthcare market, and to implement its ‘In China for China’ strategy. A hotspot for medical technology (medtech) in China, Suzhou is already home to many local and international customers and suppliers, and therefore an ideal location for Barco’s new healthcare hub.
With an annual growth rate of more than 10%, and a stated investment priority by its government, the Chinese healthcare market for medical display technology is booming. Both Chinese as well as international medtech industry-players are therefore investing in a local presence in the country. The area of Suzhou, close to Shanghai, was designated as a medtech development area and promoted by Suzhou Industrial Park Admin Committee SIPAC. In March 2018, Barco opened a small office in the area, and 1 year later officially opens a brand-new healthcare hub. This new Barco center of expertise is fully dedicated to medical imaging solutions, and includes services across the entire value chain – from product development and engineering, to manufacturing, logistics, support, and other related services.
Implementing Barco’s ‘In China for China’ Strategy
The new healthcare hub focusses on the modality, diagnostic and surgical markets. Situated near the medtech eco-system in China, Barco’s Suzhou hub is to become a platform to collaborate with both China based customers and suppliers to develop and grow. The set-up of the semi-automated state-of-the-art production line excels in efficiency and has the capacity to manufacture 20,000 medical displays per year in the first phase. The line passed UL, CCC and SGS ISO certification, and customer audits earlier this year. Having successfully passed these milestones, production of the first batches of surgical displays has started for some major medtech customers, while development and production negotiation with multiple local medtech companies in the Suzhou eco-system are underway.
“This new center of excellence fits into our ‘In China for China’ strategy, which means that we want to have a local presence in China, close to our customers,” says Filip Pintelon, General Manager for the Healthcare Business Group. “Our new Suzhou facility has access to Barco’s worldwide product and technology expertise but will work closely with local partners, both customers and suppliers and thus lead to local innovation. With the new factory we are meeting the high responsiveness and cost requirements that are key to winning in the Chinese market.”
Swift Opening Demonstrates ‘Focus to Perform’ Mindset
On 21 March 2019, the Barco leadership team officially opened its new plant in Suzhou. On the occasion of the official opening, Jan De Witte, Barco CEO, commented: “Two years ago we initiated our ‘In China for China’ strategy for healthcare, and we are proud that we can now already open this new research and manufacturing plant. The Suzhou Healthcare center of excellence is a proofpoint that gives us the confidence to further extend the ICFC approach to other elements of the Barco portfolio, in our aim to tap into Chinese capabilities and capture share in Chinese growth markets.”
About Barco
Barco designs technology to enable bright outcomes around the world. Seeing beyond the image, we develop visualization and collaboration solutions to help you work together, share insights, and wow audiences. Our focus is on three core markets: Enterprise (from meeting and control rooms to corporate spaces), Healthcare (from the radiology department to the operating room), and Entertainment (from movie theaters to live events and attractions). In 2018, we realized sales of 1.028 billion euro. We have a global team of 3,600 employees, whose passion for technology is captured in 400 granted patents.
For more information, visit us on www.barco.com, follow us on Twitter (@Barco), LinkedIn (Barco), YouTube (BarcoTV), or like us on Facebook (Barco).
