The Otis Elevator Company, one of the world's leading suppliers of elevators, escalators, moving walkways and other people-moving systems, yesterday announced that its Guangzhou manufacturing facility will serve as the sole base to supply its newest escalators - the NextStep system.

The Guangzhou facility, or Guangzhou Otis Elevator Co Ltd, which opened in 1994, is Otis's first manufacturing facility awarded a silver medal for "Achieving Competitive Excellence" worldwide.

The award is given for quality management by United Technologies Corp, Otis's parent company.

And the Guangzhou facility is Otis's only manufacturing operation in China supplying assembled products to the Japanese market.

Otis has set up six manufacturing operations in China and two engineering research and development (R&D) centres in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Its advanced manufacturing level and engineering acumen have played a decisive role in the selection of the Guangzhou site for the fabrication of the escalators, Robert Isaman, president of Otis Elevator (China) Investment Co Ltd, said.

The NextStep employs a unique step design and several other features that advance escalator technology and safety, firm officials claim.

"The culmination of nearly three years of intense engineering activity, the NextStep escalator was designed by a multinational team including the engineering R&D center in Guangzhou," Isaman said.

"Our challenge was to create the safest escalator in the world while making it affordable and environmentally friendly for our customers."

He said he is confident in the prospects for Otis's product since it represents Otis' best thinking, combining technological know-how, design skills, speed and cost efficiencies.

The Guangzhou base has received orders for over 160 NextStep escalators, primarily from the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom and France.

European customers in the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Italy as well as Asians, including Japan and South Korea, have shown great interest in the product, he said.

China's enormous market potential is due to mushrooming gigantic projects that include the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games, and 2010 Shanghai World Expo, he said.

(China Daily November 18, 2004)