German businessman Lars Bruegmann sees in China a chance to expand his company - and his fortune. Zhang Zhao reports

After a 20-year journey during which he played different roles - first that of a factory apprentice, later a college student and finally the head of a company - Lars Bruegmann has gained the ability to see the world from a variety of perspectives.

The 37-year-old German is the founder and director of Bruegmann (Zhuhai FTZ) Co Ltd, the China division of the Bruegmann Group, a company specializing in merchandising solution that his father built in the 1970s. Its products include supermarket shelves and signs.

Bruegmann started working in the company's German headquarters during the holidays and in his spare time at the age of 16 and then became an apprentice in an outside factory when he was around 18.

The work there taught him to deal with "a wide variety of different machines", he said. He learned various techniques, such as milling, drilling and wire cutting. The experience gave him "a basic understanding of how to design a product and create it from its earliest concept to the finished product", he said.

After a year in the army, a compulsory service at that time, he began studying business and engineering in a Fachhochschule, a type of university in Germany that focuses on applied sciences and arts.

"If you have time and opportunity to do an apprenticeship and attend college, I would absolutely recommend to do both," he told China Daily.

"The apprenticeship gives you the skills to become an expert in something very specific, while studying in college allows you the chance to train your mind to solve problems even though it may not be something you've come across before," he explained.

Sharing the entrepreneurial spirit of his father, he and his elder brother went to the United States in 2000 to expand their family business.

When Bruegmann visited China for the first time in 2004, curious about "what was going on in the East", he was deeply impressed by the "unexpectedly fast growth" of the country.

"The infrastructure, the buildings, the streets, the workforce - everything was developing fast," he recalled. "It is a vibrant country."

On that trip, he decided to expand to China. "It was difficult to be competitive without a facility in China," he said.

So, he opened Bruegmann China in 2005 in the free trade zone of Zhuhai, sharing the building of another German company, the owner of which is an old friend to the Bruegmann family.

The infrastructure and relatively cleaner environment have made the city much more attractive, he said.

As an executive, Bruegmann no longer concentrates on the smaller aspects of the business, such as product design. Now he focuses more on the big picture, designing an overall strategy and finding the right people to manage daily production.

"It gives me the time to look for new opportunities to sustain and grow the business," he said. "I have to step away a little bit out of the daily business and see the bigger picture."

He added that he is "lucky" to have "an invaluable hardworking team".

"One of China's greatest, and perhaps under-appreciated, assets is the female workforce here," he noted. "A great number of Chinese women are seeking higher education and are incredibly hardworking."

In his company, women currently hold more of the leadership positions.

Despite a relatively small size, Bruegmann said that innovation, product reliability and a fast decision-making process are some of his company's advantages.

But the biggest advantage, he said, is that it has four production facilities around the world, which "benefits our customers directly through cost savings, import taxes, lead time and freight costs".

(China Daily 10/13/2013 page6)