Sheffield firm sets the standard in China

A Sheffield organisation aims to break into the Chinese healthcare market, after receiving assistance from a number of regional support organisations.

Swann Morton turned to the South Yorkshire International Trade Centre and Medilink (Yorkshire and Humber) Ltd to help boost its Far East operations.

The surgical blade manufacturer has now succeeded in registering its specialised range of products enabling their importation into China after working closely with the Chinese Health Ministry.

Chris Taylor, sales and marketing director at Swann Morton, said: “We had wanted to break into China’s healthcare sector after selling blades for industrial applications into the country via Hong Kong for many years.

“However, we had to achieve an official standard accreditation with the Ministry as there are many counterfeits around and we wanted to gain a level of protection on our own specialist products.

“In China domestic manufacturers produce around ten varieties of blades, Swann Morton has now registered an entire range of 63 shaped designs. This means that while it has taken four years to have all the registrations and documentations in place, many of the blades we are providing will be new to the Chinese market.

“As we had to provide all the designs and technical data on the blades to gain the accreditation, the Ministry will apparently be using them as a point of reference for other companies wishing to register similar products in China. By complying with their requirements we had unknowingly set a standard for all future manufacturers to follow.”

Swann Morton will launch the firm’s surgical blades in China this April in Shenzhen, specifically looking to sell the products for the first time to the Medical Universities and Academics.

SYITC provided research, market information and support to Swann Morton through Yorkshire Forward’s Targeted Export Support Scheme (TESS) and Charlotte Bowden from Medilink Y&H supplied additional advice through her role as UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) healthcare technologies sector specialist.

Swann Morton has been a long-standing member of Medilink Y&H, which has also assisted the company with network advice, sources of funding and alternative avenues to take their surgical products to the market in the China

John Hall, international trade advisor at SYITC, said: “This is a great achievement for Swann Morton, who have now set very high standards for any competitor to match.

“The company has always had a strong exporting initiative with more than 100 markets overseas. But the support of Medilink Y&H and the SYITC helped them fill in the gaps needed to break into the Chinese health sector.”

Charlotte Bowden, from Medilink, added: “China can never be a quick win market. It is a challenging market to break into due to the low cost of domestic manufacturing in that country.

“There are many surgical blades made in China, but none can compete to the quality and wide-range Swann Morton can professionally manufacture. This has allowed them to establish a foot-hold in a relatively specialist market segment, but one which is still a large share in a vast country.”

Swann Morton has now devised a plan of action with Medilink Y&H to raise the firm’s profile in China. The company is also looking into establishing a market place in Peru with Medilink identifying partners for them in South America.