Q: Recently, Weihai Guangtai Airport Company and Hitzinger Electric Power GmbH cooperated together and produced the EHG90M electric GPU for Europe. Equipped with state-of-the-art battery technology it is user-friendly and highly reliable, meeting the high safety requirements for European users. How’s the partnership with Hitzinger progressing?
It is progressing really well, even the customer base is very surprised and inspired to see this kind of partnership. Both parties have their own strengths from an engineering and manufacturing perspective and are a strong force together. It is also breaking ground as it’s a relatively new business model. With the global supply chain problem, we can help with Hitzinger’s orders, plus we are market leaders using the highest standard of lithium-ion battery technology that is used in the automobile industry by the likes of Tesla and BMW. We have received great feedback from customers about the product.
Q: What’s the strategy with the eGPU and other electric products going into next year?
It is very good for 2023. Many of our customers this year have been testing our electric vehicles, which are ready for purchase next year.
Q: How is the Covid situation in China?
China is still locked down, and not fully open but I strongly believe in the next few months it will get better. Covid had a massive impact on us, which started with international airlines and many government and airports stopping and suspending projects. We believe that China will restart eventually, region by region. But despite the impact of Covid on the industry, we delivered hundreds of GSE units, including many eGPUs to airports in different countries and regions. Our main focus also during Covid was investment in our research and development, working on autonomous projects and electric products like our fully electric de-icer – the first of its kind in the world. We have also been testing our battery swap solution so operators don’t need to charge at the battery storage station, they can just swap the battery and keep operations going. We are still testing it as we have not introduced it to the market yet.
Q: How important is electrification to Weihai Guangtai?
We keep exploring new technologies, especially lithium-ion batteries which are an upgrade from lead acid batteries. We think the next generation technology might be hydrogen so we are talking to some suppliers of companies who is dedicated to fuel cell technology which can replace lithium-ion. However, I still think it will take some time but in China already we have a hydrogen truck albeit on a very small scale. Artificial Intelligence is also a very important talking point within our engineering team.
Q: What is so special about your electric tractor?
Many people are happy with this unit because it is very quiet compared to its diesel equivalent and is very smooth running and has zero emissions.
Q: What’s the secret to Weihai Guangtai’s success after being in the industry for 30 years?
The key to our success is our persistency in manufacturing. We have invested in our manufacturing, improved our productivity and invested in our technology. This strategy pays off in giving us a very good return in the future. Our founder has invested in this business for 30 years and his son, our new President, is now preparing for another 30 years. We keep investing in our production and technology and keep listening to our customers’ needs. GSE is our core business but through our knowledge we have expanded our business to firefighting vehicles. As a result, we learn more from a different industry and then can apply our knowledge back to our GSE, which is very helpful. So, our secret is that we keep improving and expanding our manufacturing capability.
Q: Do you have targets?
It is still uncertain due to Covid as we are not completely over it. But in normal circumstances we make around 2,000 units every year, mainly pushbacks and loaders. Almost everyone is our customer like Swissport, dnata and Menzies. We also have key accounts in different countries such as in China with China Eastern and China Southern, in Singapore with SIA, and Malaysia with handler GTR, which used to be Air Asia.
The key to our success is our persistency in manufacturing
Q: How important is the European market to Weihai Guangtai?
It is a very important part of our strategy. Before Covid we were not ready, but over the last three years due to our company’s investment, we’ve started to build our confidence. Our European customers know we are reliable having tested our equipment in Asia Pacific, and now companies are increasingly turning to us because of the supply chain issues. A lot of our competitors have long waiting times and difficulties with deliveries. But we are able to deliver and are always here standing by, so it is a good opportunity for us.
Q: What are your most popular products?
The GJT14D 14-ton electric loader is very popular and we recently delivered a GJT35D electric powered loader to Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, which is capable of lifting 35 tons of cargo ‒ the highest capacity in the current global market.
Q: What is your final message that you would like to share with our readers?
If any customer from Europe needs us we are always there to support them. Similarly to how we worked with Hitzinger we are open to any type of dialogue or business model. We want to help the industry and those brands with good know-how and technology who have suffered due to a loss of manufacturing because of Covid or are now suffering due to supply chain problems ‒ we can step in and help them.
