Palas® Asia Limited set up its first subsidiary in Shanghai for the Greater China Market. Michael Wolf, the driving force behind the expansion into Asia, heads both the offices in Shanghai and Hongkong. Having lived and worked for over two decades in Greater China, Michael is an expert on the Asian markets.
What does Palas® stand for?
The word Palas® is made up of two parts: “Pa” for particle and “las” for laser. This describes what Palas® is doing for 35 years in the field of Particle and Aerosol technology. As one of the leading engineering companies in Europe, it is now time to set a real footprint in Asia with the foundation of Palas® Hong Kong and Shanghai, which I am responsible for.
What is the biggest challenge in China compared to western countries, how do you master it?
I believe, we have to look at this in reverse. We need to ask what challenges do we face in Western countries and how is China doing in comparison. I feel that in the West many do not really see the speed of China. In my opinion it is widely underestimated how fast things develop and change here in Mainland. The Government identified problems of the past, addressed them and enabled and pushed companies to come up with solutions. I give you some examples: China has the highest production, using green energy, being the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles, embracing APPs to develop digital solutions. The consequent and efficient way China managed to deal with the threat of COVID 19 is unique worldwide. It is safe to say that China uses technology in a very smart way to solve problems and to become a leading nation in many industries.
What does Palas® bring to the Chinese market?
Actually, we bring our complete competence to China, structured in four fields: Environmental, Automotive, Industry & Science. We are currently building a strong local team in order to be able to better serve the Chinese market locally. Each of this team member will write his own history with Palas® in China. Outside Mainland China, Palas® is well established, here we are a newcomer, and this gives us the opportunity to be more flexible, be more innovative and offer competitive solutions.
What is the China strategy of Palas®?
Our goal is to bring the complete range of Palas® competencies to the Chinese market. We started with a core team to set up basic structures in the first stage. Now we are looking for Chinese experts to enlarge our core team. We are expanding our team with experts for the various industries that we serve. We also set up partnerships and connect with our end users. The key to success is to gather the right people, set up the most efficient structures and build good relationships with all important stakeholders. We do this to offer in China what we already offer in other countries: Highest quality and reliability made by Palas®.
What is your goal?
We have set ourselves high goals. In the coming 30 months we aim to reach 25% of the current Palas® Business of 2019 additionally within Greater China. This is a really ambitious target, but we accept the challenge. We think our technology will be well received by the market. Especially in the Environmental & Automotive Industries we see huge potential to reach higher standards for low emission & immission. With our solutions we can contribute to better performances here. We also see that in the Industry & Science field Aerosol detection is a key factor when it comes to reliable personal health protection materials. Besides this, we are also committed to the support of long-term research projects in cooperation with universities.
