For more than 10 years now, CASCOO Europe GmbH has been producing and selling a wide range of wheels and castors. All European sales are handled from the headquarters in Rüthen. From there, many different wheels and castors are delivered throughout Europe. The production location is the large CASCOO China Ltd. factory in Guangdong Province, where a very close contact has been maintained over the years. Mutual visits take place regularly to exchange information on projects, strategies and market developments. It is not just the executive management of CASCOO Europe that regularly gets an idea of the production location in China. Chief buyer Ralf Drees and the new technical designer Julian Lips visited the Far East in mid-June to take a look at the technical department and production.
In addition to getting to know the technical department on site, they also inspected the production and working conditions. "There is no time for sightseeing on a business trip like this," says Ralf Drees, "the trips are scheduled very tight. From the airport we go straight to the CASCOO factory. There are various meetings there before we have dinner with the Chinese employees and management at around 8 p.m." Such a trip usually only lasts 3 - 4 days and is therefore loaded with appointments. On this trip, Julian Lips' focus was on getting to know the team on site, especially the production team, and gaining a deeper insight into the production steps.
This was important for the designer to see what is currently possible and what is important for him when designing new products. Meanwhile, Ralf Drees had meetings focusing on "delivery dates" and price negotiations for various projects. Another important point in one of the meetings: quality control and quality assurance. The main focus here was on monitoring the processes that had been initiated and constantly improving them. "European customers expect a certain quality standard from us. Our job is to ensure this standard already before and during production," says Managing Director Sven Rohwer. CASCOO also attaches particular importance to ensuring that the goods are manufactured under good working conditions and that employees are treated fairly.
A few years ago, CASCOO China was certified according to the guidelines of the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative), which evaluates the company based on whether social standards are adhered to and all employees are treated according to an appropriate code of conduct. The BSCI certification rounds off the topic of quality and shows that CASCOO is a responsible employer in China.