Member Spotlight:
The Woodbridge Group

General Manager, Greater China Wilfred Cheng shares some insight on how a Canadian company successfully expanded its operations in China.

You were sent to China to build the China operations of your company from scratch. What is the most important thing when it comes to taking the first step?

We have been fortunate to have our local Chinese partner help us organize a core start up team to work with our Canadian support team. However, getting our patented new technology working in China was the most critical first step.

Why is that so hard?

Lack of technical knowledge of the local team who did not understand our proprietary technology. So it required significant technical support of engineers from the United States, Canada and Japan to hold our hands initially to make sure that the equipment was well maintained and that process wise the chemicals are matched perfectly molecule to molecule.

We also need to expand our local customer base in China.

How were you able to expand your local customer base in China?

Woodbridge has the ability to deliver the quality and price that customers want. We are able to meet or exceed their specifications. There are not a lot of local companies that can meet international automotive manufacturers' specifications of polyurethane foam products due to older technology.

The fact that Woodbridge is a reputable international supplier of polyurethane products with over 60 facilities worldwide supplying virtually all the name brands of automotive OEMs also helps in getting new business in China.

Woodbridge has expanded from one plant in Wuhan to five plants in locations such as Chongqing, Wuxi and Shanghai. How was this achieved?

As I mentioned above , our international reputation in the polyurethane industry helped greatly in our China business. We also have a very aggressive growth strategy in China.

Prior to coming to China, you had been working in Canada for over 30 years. What have you learned in Canada that has come in handy when doing business in China?

The general Canadian attitude of being fair and open-minded, emphasis on health/safety/environment and a focus on quality all help in getting more business from customers in China. Canada also has an excellent reputation for respecting diversity. I guess this attitude somehow and in some way shows up in the Canadian behaviour when doing business abroad.

Is there anything you wished you could have done differently when you started Woodbridge in China?

I wish we came to China ten years earlier.

Has working in China changed the way you form your business strategy?

Yes. We have decided to install the latest technology. We have been rather conservative up to now because we do have concerns about the proper maintenance of our equipment, intellectual property protection and technology transfer. However, after almost eight years of expanding operations in China, we now feel a lot more comfortable in managing those issues.

We have introduced the Woodbridge green light low mass technology in China to meet the Chinese consumers demand for fuel efficient cars. We are also leading the market in the successful use of non food based bio-polyol in our products.

What does a good leader have to keep in mind when working in China?

You cannot impose Western or North American rules in China when managing a Chinese team. You have to show understanding and empathy to see their point of view while not losing sight of product quality and production efficiency. But I also do not think that "cultural sensitivity" is all that important in leading a Chinese team or doing business in China as long as the leader is a good person and the company cares about corporate social responsibility.

Challenges of growing in the Chinese market?

You mentioned that finding good managers can be difficult. Why?

The first challenge is the pool of people available to be trained.

The second challenge is that the Chinese approach to initiative/leadership is very different. We also find that this challenge varies from region to region. But we are seeing very positive signs. We think that the opportunity in developing a capable local team is excellent. But we cannot be dogmatic in our approach. We cannot move a training program lock stock and barrel from North America to China. I always evaluate any suggestions or advice from headquarters carefully before implementation.

What's Next?

Generally I think both the people and business in China will still be experiencing growth. For business, it will be an era of growth in all sectors.