HEMMINGEN, Germany—Helukabel GmbH has expanded its distribution network with sales offices in the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Indonesia.
Each location will provide regional coverage with sales and distribution offering a variety of wire and cabling products made with thermoplastic elastomers, silicones and other materials for the electronics, automation machine building, food and beverage, and robotic cabling industries.
None of the sites will include manufacturing capabilities. The firm operates multiple manufacturing facilities in Germany and one in China. With the additional branches, Helukabel operates 23 affiliates worldwide.
Helukabel declined to release investment figures, but the three new locations will combine to add 11 jobs. The firm is headquartered in Hemmingen, just outside of Stuttgart. It employs more than 800.
“Overall, these regions have showed tremendous growth over the past few years,” a company spokesman said. “In order to continue to grow these important industrial centers, we needed to put direct sales or sales and distribution facilities in place to meet customer demand in a timely fashion.”
The spokesman said there is a growing market for European standard cables in the United Kingdom, which will be supported by the new office in Liverpool, England. The office will serve customers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, too.
The Liverpool office includes a 5,000-sq.-ft. warehouse for distribution. The spokesman said demand has been strong in the initial months.
Helukabel said the Middle East is one of the most attractive places for business expansions with many countries in the developing stages. The firm's sales office will be the first in the region, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The spokesman cited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iraq as sites investing in new technology.
The office will service customers in Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan.
The firm had been selling indirectly into the Indonesian market for more than 10 years through its sales office in Singapore. Helukabel is ready to take the next step to grow the business further with its office headquartered in the capital city of Jakarta, the spokesman said.
The Dubai and Jakarta locations are sales offices only, but each will have access to the 1.85 million-sq.-ft. automated warehouse in Hemmingen. The Jakarta office will have access to the 6,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Singapore and receive additional support from that location.
Helukabel operates affiliates in China, India, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand, which serve the Asia-Pacific region, the spokesman said. It serves the North American region through its headquarters in Elgin, Ill., just outside of Chicago and operates a Canadian sales and distribution subsidiary in Toronto.