ECCO on the move
By Enid Chen
Photos by Yao Fan

Name: Morten Bay Jensen Nationality: Danish Position: Executive Vice President, ECCO Xiamen Co., Ltd

Since 1963, ECCO has developed from a small family-owned shoe factory in Denmark into one of the world's leading shoe manufacturers, represented in 60 countries today. On April 2nd this year, ECCO's first factory in China officially began production and ECCO's footprints finally reached China.

丹麦著名制鞋公司ECCO集团是世界三大皮鞋生产商之一. 今年4月, 其厦门工厂正式投产. 这个以环保皮鞋著称的世界一流皮鞋厂商登陆厦门同安, 为ECCO集团掀开了新的篇章. 在与本刊记者的专访中, 其丹麦籍执行副总裁Morten Bay Jensen表示投产四个月的厦门工厂运作良好, 并且有信心将厦门厂建成集团最大、最优秀的全球生产基地.



Footprints in Xiamen

Q: Why did ECCO finally decide to invest in Xiamen rather than any other Chinese city?
A: One of the most important reasons is because of the workforce. We need a stable workforce who can work for ECCO for a long time. We hope that our employees can come to work in the morning from nearby areas and go back home to spend time with their families in the evening. Tong'an is able to meet this requirement. We had a scoring system for judging among some possible locations for investment, and Xiamen and Hangzhou turned out to have exactly the same score, but Xiamen is better than Hangzhou in this aspect. Therefore, Xiamen was finally chosen for the investment.

Secondly, the local government has always been very supportive. They sent people to our factories in Denmark, The Netherlands and Thailand for on-the-spot investigations to make sure that the future link-up between ECCO and Xiamen would be a good fit. ECCO is here for the long term rather than the short term, so it's important for both parties to learn more about each other and to maintain a harmonious relationship in the future.

Q: What is the vision for ECCO Xiamen in the coming few years?
A: It took only seven months from the time the investment was agreed to the time we officially started operation, which was really efficient and fast. So far, our development is a little bit ahead of schedule. ECCO Xiamen has a vision of building the factory into a development center in Asia and becoming the largest manufacturer within ECCO worldwide. We can find good suppliers for materials, tools, etc. in the domestic market. This year, ECCO intends to produce 450,000 pairs of shoes and in two years the output will reach 2.9 million pairs.

Q: What will be the key factors that allow the factory in Xiamen to become the biggest one within ECCO?
A: To fulfill our vision, we need to make shoes of superior quality to enhance our competitiveness. From the very start, it has always been ECCO's philosophy that quality is the one thing that really lasts. Furthermore, innovation also counts. It's crucial that we can continuously design new perfect shoes, shoes which provide such a pleasant walking sensation that you forget you are wearing them. Later on, we will build an R&D department here in Xiamen to use the latest technology and know-how to produce the world's best shoes.



An environmentally-friendly shoemaker

Q: ECCO has developed from a small local family-owned shoe factory into one of the world's leading shoe manufacturers within a short period of only 4 decades. What is the secret of its fast growth?
A: Pleasant walking should allow the feet to call the tune-not the shoes. It is with this goal in mind that ECCO has always attached great importance to the superior quality of its shoes. Quality is the keyword that makes ECCO shoes competitive in the market.

Secondly, ECCO lays special emphasis on environmental protection. ECCO has its own tanneries to produce leather. In the process of leather making, a lot of chemicals are used, but ECCO has a complete set of waste treatment equipment for the water containing chemicals. For example, in ECCO's Indonesian factory, the water after treatment is even cleaner than that in the rivers, which must be quite unusual for a shoemaker!

Q: Many multinational corporations hold to the belief that they should pay attention to the three "Ls", i.e. using local employees, investing in the local economy and being a local citizen. What are ECCO's practices on this front?
A: In ECCO, we try to create a "family feeling" for our employees, so that they can regard ECCO as their home and work for the company for a long period of time. We put strong emphasis on educating and training our employees for their career development. In ECCO you are provided with a lot of opportunities and challenges, which is one of the reasons I have been working with this company for 14 years.

A successful company must adopt local management. The employees are trained to understand ECCO's values, to learn about shoe making and to be far-sighted as they move into higher positions in the company.

In the meantime, ECCO would very much like to be involved with activities going on in Tong'an and other parts of Xiamen. It is our sincere hope that ECCO can contribute to the people in Tong'an as well as to the city's development.



About the Executive Vice President

Q: Could you please give us a brief introduction to your work experience?
A: I have been working with ECCO for 14 years since 1991 when I started in ECCO's headquarters in Denmark and later moved to ECCO's factories in Indonesia and Thailand, where I also worked with Chinese suppliers and partners.

Q: What do you think are the most important qualifications for a top manager of a company?
A: Above all, it's crucial for a top manager to have good communication skills and to be able to communicate with different people. Besides, doing business in China, you need to know its language and culture. I'm learning Chinese in a Chinese university now, so I hope that I will be able to speak Chinese soon.

Second, a good manager should also be a good delegator. In a new factory here, there are a lot of things to follow up on, so it's important to make sure that the staff are given the right work responsibilities and chances to develop. As long as an employee has a good attitude and the ability to do the job, we will give them the opportunity to contribute.

Q: What are your hobbies after work and how do you like the city?
A: Most of my leisure time is spent with my family here. However, I like doing many kinds of sports, such as cycling, playing soccer, golf and badminton. Xiamen is a very nice, clean and beautiful city. It's one of the nicest cities that I have visited in China.

Vocabulary
volume 产量
innovation 革新
know-how 技术
superior 优越的
tannery 制革厂