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SUSTAINING GROWTH as a global manufacturer of electronic products means having to find talented electrical engineers in Asia, according to Viasystems Group's chief executive Dave Sindelar.

Hong Kong could prove a hot spot for talent, Mr Sindelar said on a recent visit to Hong Kong.

'We're growing and we're in need of people who can grow with us. We want highly motivated and dedicated engineers who, most importantly, want to work with a leader,' he said.

The firm's electronic products are used in many everyday applications, with as many as 22,000 employees serving more than 100 customers in the vehicle, consumer goods, computer and data communications, industrial and instrumentation, and telecommunications markets.

Many motorists may encounter Viasystems' technology each time they sit in the driver's seat. Many leading carmakers use the company's circuit boards on dashboards and in control modules.

The firm's electronics are also used in refrigerators and many other major household appliances.

The same is true of helping to move information in data networking equipment and telecoms switching equipment when using telephones or computer networks.

In hospitals, doctors and nurses may be using equipment to save lives, and that piece of equipment is controlled by one of the company's printed circuit boards.

The hi-tech nature of Viasystems' work means the company is in need of highly qualified electrical engineers and managers who should have excellent qualifications on paper - but the jobs entail much more than that.

Employees must also be able to respond with the right kind of flexibility to challenges in many complex situations.

Each person hired by the company must have the qualities that would enable it to find hi-tech methods to provide 'cost competitive outsourcing solutions for global manufacturers of high-value products', Mr Sindelar said.

All the firm's products have to use advanced electro-mechanical designs and manufacturing methods at its 13 overseas plants, including operations at mainland facilities in Zhongshan and Guangzhou, in Guangdong, Shanghai, Qingdao and Shenzhen (the firm also has plants in Mexico, Singapore and Malaysia).

That means challenges in dealing with diversity.

Mr Sindelar said that, for Hong Kong candidates, the ability to operate in the cultural framework of the mainland was vital to get the job done.

Many Hong Kong residents have an advantage in that respect. Those with some experience and a track record of previous success of working on the mainland were preferred.

Most needed were 'people who can help us be successful in our plants, working closely with their colleagues, finding the way to motivate and communicate with our people ... those are the people we want to hire', Mr Sindelar said.

Perhaps the key ingredients to building such a special relationship was finding the framework that worked in serving as motivator, educator and mentor, all within a Chinese context, Mr Sindelar said.

'When you can gain their trust, and when properly rewarded and motivated, I have never met anyone willing to work harder than the Chinese,' he said.

Fostering a sense of dedication to the company's mandate of providing support for the entire life cycle of each of its diverse products - from the initial design process to prototyping, to local market product launch and to low-cost, high-volume production - is a prerequisite.

'That greatly increases manufacturing efficiency,' Mr Sindelar said.

Viasystems thinks globally: it has production facilities at strategic locations in Asia and North America (the United States and Mexico) and its complex printed circuit boards, large-format back panels, harness assemblies and enclosures can be developed and manufactured to customers' specifications and can be fully compatible with each other.

That means each client's projects can be launched in one region and then be readily expanded to other parts of the globe, as needed.

Such uniquely tailored services enable global customers to get their products to market faster and gain from lower average unit production costs.

For the company, that was a huge advantage doing business in a world in which market cycles were always getting shorter, Mr Sindelar said.

To put that advantage to work, the company must home in on customers' needs - whether it is time, cost or volume - and have Viasystems become the provider of solutions without boundaries.

Personnel who get a foot in the door at Viasystems can expect to receive excellent training.

Policies on remuneration mean employees receive competitive compensation.

There are many opportunities for advancement in the company and excellence will be rewarded through promotion from within.

keys to success

Top electrical engineering qualifications and experience

Right kind of flexible approach to challenges

Willingness to embrace core company qualities and values

Ability to motivate and communicate

Track record of success in China



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