Equator Appliances, a manufacturer of laundry appliances, dishwashers, and refrigerators, announced that it has set up operations in China in collaboration with the giant Meiling Group, one of the top 10 state-owned industrial groups in China.
The Meiling-Equator Home Appliance Company, located in Hefei, capital of Anhui Province, was formed as a joint venture between Meiling Group and Equator Appliances. The newly constructed factory, recently inaugurated, has an installed capacity of 400,000 machines per year. It will specialize in manufacturing horizontal-axis washers, dryers, and combo washer-dryers, as well as top-loading washers and twin-tub washer-dryers for developing markets. The newly constructed plant is 200,000 sq ft and employs 300 people. Presently, the plant works one shift but will expand to three shifts as demand grows.
In addition to setting up Equator China, which will handle exports from the factory, Equator Europe has also been set up in Athens, Greece, for the marketing of the products in Europe. The products will be marketed under the Meiling brand in China, and under the Equator and other brands as Equator becomes an OEM manufacturer for other companies.
"We had a problem in maintaining the quality of our laundry products that were manufactured in Italy, and this led to a deterioration of the Equator brand," Atul Vir, president of Equator Appliances, said in statement. "In the interest of our dealers and the eventual consumer, we decided to invest in our own plant in China. Equator will now have the advantage of hands-on quality control, and knowledge of expectations of the American consumer will give us the ability to come up with well designed and energy-efficient products, at competitive prices."
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