Restructuring of Nolato in Asia for enhanced competitiveness

Nolato’s presence in Asia goes back a long time, the company’s first operations were established at the beginning of the millennium and has, over the years, developed and adapted to the current market demands and customers in the region. Moreover, the Asian sites support customers worldwide, highlighting how Nolato’s global footprint comes into play, benefiting customers. 

As of today, Nolato has around 2000 employees in the Asia region, including units in China, Malaysia, and India. The Nolato businesses in these regions have evolved over time through expansions, acquisitions, and operational ramp-downs.

“In 2001, Nolato started its first operations in Beijing to, at the time, serve primarily the telecom industry, which then had moved to Asia. The first unit we opened in Southeast Asia was back in 2009 in Penang, Malaysia, which today serves the entire region within Nolato’s Engineered Solutions offering”, says Anders Björklund, President Engineered Solutions.  

In 2023, Nolato Group decided to restructure parts of its set-up in Asia, focusing on reducing operations in Beijing while transferring much of the business to the newly acquired unit in Dongguan in southern China. The relocation of the China operations has resulted in a strong Nolato presence in Dongguan, with two sites covering respectively Nolato’s Medical and Engineered Solutions. Nolato maintains its EMC business and Technical Design Centre in Beijing. The other main Nolato stronghold in the region is the Malaysia business, which is also projected to continue expanding its operations. 

A strategic move to ultimately better serve customers

With the transfer to the south of China, Nolato has positioned itself closer to both its customers and suppliers, securing a strategically optimal supply chain location. 

“Having a broad footprint in Asia enables us to support our customers across the region as well as be flexible when tailoring solutions in terms of manufacturing and consulting/product development”, Anders Björklund continues.  

While focusing on growing and expanding Nolato in the value chain, the company is also focused on attracting new and different kinds of customers with its competitive offering.  

“This reconstructing is in line with our strategy of having a broad offering in Asia, from our core expertise within injection molding to advanced surface treatments and metal stamping. Also, from a geographical standpoint, we have optimized in terms of logistics, shipping and warehouse storage”, adds Anders Björklund.  

In the future, Nolato will continue to consolidate its business and solidify its offering in the Asia region, following the global trend of regionalization.  

“A strong Asian presence is of utmost importance for Nolato, with strong growth rates and being a hotspot for manufacturing, the region is a vital strategic and operational priority for us both for regional and global trade opportunities. In general, our global footprint enables us to support customers wherever they need it, which is a strong business advantage/strength for Nolato”, Anders Björklund concludes.