Mr. Müller, you and your team were in Asia for some time 2 months ago. What was the purpose of your trip?

The aim of our trip to Asia was a visit to our Asian distribution partner Mun Hean at their offices in Singapore and Hong Kong. Both regions are experiencing significant growth. The sheer size of the construction projects in the two regions is incredible. For example, right across from our hotel in Hong Kong, there was a 70-story residential building that had 2,000 Janitza meters installed, along with 40 transformers for power supply to the high-rise building. There is an incredible energy density in the buildings there.

In Mun Hean we have found a great partner who specializes in energy distribution and power quality management. The company has a broad regional presence, with a wide network throughout Asia and numerous offices in 10 regions, including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hong Kong and Beijing. They are known as a technology leader in these regions and have made incredible progress during our 16 years of collaboration. Singapore and Hong Kong are responsible for over 80% of our partner's total revenue (5 million EUR in 2022). Since the beginning of our partnership, 300,000 measuring devices have been installed. As a token of appreciation for our valuable collaboration in the Asian market, we presented Mun Hean with an award.

Our partner's technical expertise has significantly advanced, and the company, especially in Hong Kong, has completely realigned its strategic approach: shifting from being a product specialist to a 360° total solution provider for projects, including the creation of circuit diagrams and technical specifications. Mun Hean have developed their own software, have "hunted" for projects, and have handled them in a highly professional and dynamic manner.

 

What projects could Janitza realize in Asia?

Janitza measurement devices are not only present in the Hong Kong Palace Museum and the Hong Kong Hockey Club but also supplied to a global software giant in the data center sector. We have already delivered 4,000 units for projects at the Hong Kong University and will have up to 10,000 in operation in the future. Additionally, there are ongoing projects in various hospitals in the region and airports. Janitza measurement technology is even deployed in the "Las Vegas of the East," Macau, as transparent energy flows and highly available power supply are of great importance everywhere.

Where is Janitza measurement technology used worldwide?

In Germany and Europe, Janitza measurement technology is primarily installed in industrial environments, in data centers, and in power generation and distribution. In Asia, it has extensive application in the commercial building market and residential buildings. This is partly due to local regulations and tax incentives, as well as the increased value of buildings when using energy measurement technology. The building market is one of the fastest-growing sectors worldwide and is highly present in many regions with little industrial activity. Of course, Janitza measurement technology is also installed in data centers, infrastructure, public buildings, such as hospitals, and airports.

How does Janitza succeed in the international market?

Our customers often lack expertise, personnel capacity and simply the time to extensively deal with energy monitoring. Therefore, there is a high willingness to completely outsource the topic. Janitza has this expertise and offers its customers complete solutions for transparent energy monitoring and reliable power supply. In a market in which the measuring devices have become increasingly similar, this allows us as a medium-sized company to differentiate ourselves from the competition. With regard to environmental protection, sustainability and CO2 neutrality, energy consumption measurement is a global issue and will intensively influence the market.

How does Janitza establish their presences abroad?

In the international context, we enter new regions in various ways. We often start with an industrial representation with local partners. The great advantage of this approach lies in the partners' familiarity with the region, their understanding of the "language of the market," knowledge of local conditions, planning offices, switchgear manufacturers, and direct access to tendering procedures. With the existing local network, we can quickly become operational through our partners. Collaboration with Janitza also benefits our partners: from close product and service coordination to detailed technical support in projects and joint roadmaps.

We maintain intensive collaboration with our partners in selected regions. Opening up a new country as a market always means mastering the local language, translating numerous documents, adapting tender texts, creating a new website, providing technical training and support for new partners - all this is a relatively large effort that needs to pay off. When we have found a reliable and competent local partner, we are happy to work with them. For example, we are currently launching a successful sales campaign in South America with joint representations.

In other regions, we start with our own sales staff in the country and later establish Janitza subsidiaries. This is currently being implemented in Austria and the USA, with plans to expand our presence in Great Britain and Australia. Janitza is currently recruiting its own employees, who will work closely with the headquarters and will develop the local market. If this process is successful, we will gradually hire personnel, particularly in sales and service, to support the successful establishment of our international presence.

What are the future markets for Janitza?

The United States is a strong focus market for us. Germany, as our home market, is naturally important, while we still need to further expand in other regions in Europe. In Southeast Asia, we are well positioned with our partner Mun Hean. Australia and India are further future core markets. Specifically, India, as the largest region and the largest democracy globally, has high potential for energy-saving due to its energy shortage, which is also encouraged by the government. This makes India an exciting market for Janitza, and we already have an employee working in the region for the company.

In brief, what are the key takeaways from your trip?

As a conclusion of our trip, we can say that the experiences in Singapore and Hong Kong was very positive; both regions are highly dynamic. People there have an incredible "drive", you can feel the energy in every single person. We want to retain this motivation from our trip and bring it back into the company.