Leather finishing laboratory opens in Huadu

16 Jul '10

3 min read

A 2500 square metre leather finishing laboratory, to be known as the Guangzhou Technical Centre (GTC), has been opened by Stahl in the Huadu Industrial Area of Guangzhou on the mainland of China just north of Hong Kong. The opening ceremony was attended by representatives of the local government and press, and by 250 guests invited from the Chinese leather industry.

Chinese symbolism lay at the heart of much of the day-long ceremony on 10th June, with a Lion Dance performance celebrating the official opening by Huub van Beijeren, CEO of Stahl Holdings bv based in Waalwijk, The Netherlands and Marcus Breulmann, Business Director Leather Finish Division of Stahl Asia Pacific & China.

The day started with an opening speech by Marcus Breulmann. After an initial introduction and welcome in fluent Mandarin, he went on in English to thank everyone who had been involved with the project of making the new laboratory happen. Marcus opened the GTC, saying that it represented an important step in keeping ahead of Stahl's competitors. Looking ahead there will be ongoing Stahl investments in leather article creation, advanced customer service and the application challenges of today's and tomorrow's leather business.

Marcus Breulmann was followed by Huub van Beijeren who told his audience that he was delighted to be back in China once again, this time to open the next phase of Stahl's long-term planned investment in plant and facilities supporting the Chinese leather market. The Guangzhou Technical Centre represents a major step forward in these plans which are already proving an outstanding success in establishing close relationships with Stahl's customers in China.

Kate Yang, President of Zibo Dahuanjiu Polygrace Tannery Group Co., Ltd then talked to our guests about the background of the Chinese leather industry and its glamorous future. She explained that the GTC is seen as an investment to support the growth of the Chinese leather industry and that such contributions are expected from the local leather manufacturers.

The opening ceremonies were followed by lunch for all the guests and a fashion show entitled “Bringing Life to Leather”. After the fashion show, guests were able to spend time looking at the latest fashion leather presentation, which provided an opportunity for friends to meet together and discussion the latest fashions and developments in the Chinese leather industry.

This up-to-the minute laboratory has been designed and engineered to meet all the needs of the leather industry, focussing especially on the shoe, garment, leather goods and upholstery segments. It will be managed by Fabrizio Ugolini who is one of Stahl's very experienced Italian “golden hands” and is based in Guangzhou.

Equipped as it is with the latest full size leather production machinery, the laboratory will operate as a Technical Centre of Excellence for Leather Finish and as an internal and external training centre providing trainees with the latest finishing concepts and state-of-the-art technologies. Stahl anticipates that it will soon become a SATRA certified physical testing laboratory for the region.

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