Advertorial: A Breath of Fresh Air

Searching the colossal Asian market for suppliers can be challenging and time-consuming, but thanks to Premier Connect, a business matching service offered by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Advantage Air sourced suppliers and had production up and running in no time.

Perth-based air conditioning company Advantage Air has come a long way since starting out 12 years ago as a wholesale business with a team of three.

When the company began manufacturing components for air conditioning systems, Walter Kimble, the company director, had no idea it would grow to the size it is now, with branches in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, as well as three more in South Africa. "And now, instead of just selling components, we sell the whole air conditioning system," says Kimble.

Australia’s manufacturing sector is less technically advanced that its Asian counterparts, which means Advantage Air outsources some of its production overseas. Working out the best way to go about it, however, was a long and expensive lesson.

The Supplier Challenge

Four years ago the company developed an electronic system to control temperatures in every room of the house. The remote control, however, wasn’t compatible with foreign-made air conditioning units or even updated Australian-made ones.

"That’s when we decided we needed to make our own air conditioning unit," says Kimble. With China as the manufacturing hub of the world, Kimble decided that's where he needed to get the units made. Sourcing suppliers began with endless searches on the internet and several trips to China, Taiwan and Thailand to meet with manufacturers and suppliers.

"We churned through them," says Kimble. "It took us an awful lot of time to find anybody who was willing to do what we wanted and could meet Advantage Air’s specifications and standards' requirements."