KEMA's head office for low voltage product testing in Hong Kong recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. Over the past ten years, KEMA’s presence in China has grown from one man to five inspection offices and three test laboratories employing   130 staff.  

"In terms of building a solid, profitable base in China, after ten years we have only just begun," says KEMA’s Maarten van de Dussen. Van de Dussen manages KEMA’s consumer products testing and inspection services in China from his office in Arnhem. Competition within the   certification service industry in China is fierce and experienced personnel are scarce. KEMA devotes substantial time to on-the-job training and after ten years, this approach is paying off.   

Partner for pre-market quality control 
In 1996, KEMA opened an office in Hong Kong at the request of Philips, one of the world’s biggest electronics companies, and the largest in Europe. Philips owns and operates factories in China and wants its products checked locally for technical and visible faults before they are shipped to European and American consumer markets. The Hong Kong office helped KEMA establish a solid foothold in the expanding Chinese consumer product testing and certification market. Over the next 10 years, KEMA added four inspection offices and three testing laboratories in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Here KEMA concentrates on inspecting and testing products manufactured in the region. KEMA's customer base includes both local Chinese and well-known European and American retailers and manufacturers.   

As the production of low voltage products in China continues to grow, KEMA will make further investments in expanding its inspection offices and test laboratories over the coming years.