The company's new regional head office will be established in Melbourne, Australia, from where its sales,marketing and business development will be coordinated. Further to this technical support, servicing and spare parts will continue to be provided by local national agents and representatives. The company added that the business will continue to concentrate on its core activities by providing tailor-made checkweighing and metal detection equipment.
Lock Inspection Systems Asia-Pacific will be headed up by Graham Millward, regional sales manager. He takes responsibility for growing Lock's business in the food, pharmaceutical and textile industries across 20 countries, providing commercial, developmental and training support to distributors and agents. Machines manufactured in Europe and destined for the Asia-Pacific customers will be shipped directly from Lock's UK headquarters. Technical support, training and after-sales service are to be handled both locally by agents and Lock.
Commenting on the decision as to why the head office has been set for the Asia Pacific region, Millward told AP-FoodTechnology that, "huge growth in the food sector - particularly in China, Indonesia, Australia, Philippines and Thailand - as well as the textile and pharmaceutical divisions, have been the main reasons for establishing the offices. Further to this we want to get closer to customers and provide additional support to existing distributors."
Millward added that he anticipated the company's metal detection solutions would continue to be the driving force of sales for the company in the region - in particular its MET 9 to 30+ 3f and hf solutions. He said that within the food and beverage sector, he said that it is the snack, meat, dairy and confectionery sectors which continue to be the main driving force of business.
Commenting on the inauguration of the office, Mike Randall, Lock's chairman, said: "This is one of the most exciting developments at Lock in recent years. There is enormous potential in Asia-Pacific, particularly China, India, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, and it is here that we see rapid growth over the coming years. These markets will be served best by having Lock resources on the ground to support the excellent work already being done by our agents. The regional office allows us to get closer to our customers, so we provide the machines and systems that precisely meet their needs."
Although the Asia Pacific head office is a big step for Lock, the prospect of setting up production facilities is something that Millward said is "not planned at the moment, but could be a distinct possibility in the future".