• Corrections of prior errors
• Process transfer
• Staff training
• Technical support of HQ, vendors and customers
• Assurance of product quality and cost
• Establishment of warehouse to serve existing customers and vendors

• Analysis and mapping of German HQ’s business model, industry, processes and structure
• Formulation of multi-stage business plan and continuation strategy
• Correction of missteps and improvement of corporate image
• Full legal representation
• Covid-19 pandemic crisis management, including related restrictions and lockdowns
• Establishment of required operational networks and resources
• Complete HR responsibility
• Customer relationship setup in automotive sector
• Strategic vendor partnership setup
• Technical, production and QC suport of vendors and customers
• Financial and accounting planning and supervision 
• Complete IT planning, adaptation and implementation
• Business model review, analysis, updates and strategic policies
• Frequent reporting, consulting as well as best-practice advice
• Preparation of turnkey company

Prior to task acceptance, we analyzed the variables involved:

• Investing company, portfolio, basics, requirements
• Investing company’s cultural and political situation
• Site conditions and business environmentL
• Government regulations
• Visa requirements
• Funding requirements
• Local support agents
• Transitioning of corporate and personal assets (insurance, property, etc)

Upon the investor’s insistence to duplicate as much of the existing corporate structure as possible, we accumulated a detailed map and understanding of the parent business.
Thus, Sebastian spent three months analyzing the parent company from within.

• Generational shift in ownership created factors to watch out for – direction, commitment, management bloat and expertise
• Various foundational decisions had previously been made that would present serious challenges in the sensitive early stages
• Essential channels and information were made unavailable due to internal politics, other critical questions left unanswered
• IT was preparing to roll out a large systems upgrade meanwhile, enabling process analysis and training only on the old one and requiring nontrivial adaptation

After careful study and further clarification, we were able to define an updated work package.

• Critical, mandatory processes could only be implemented upon complete reconsideration of the local IT infrastructure
• Intensivation of vendor cooperation would be required
• Growth targets would require adjusted strategies in leadership, investment and positioning
• More careful recruiting and leadership of local teams had to be undertaken
• Local expectations needed to be considered 
• Sensitivity to locale-specific laws, rules and regulation had to be created
• Chinese customers desired local contacts

P{reemptively factoring this in, we identified key contacts and established understanding for the tasks at hand with the responsibles in question made sure the necessary interfaces were in place to mitigate factors that would create problems at the appropriate time.

This provided a foundation for transferring the core business and identity to the new location.

As a business case and reason for the endeavor, the investor had guaranteed an initial business volume, aka list of initial vendors and customers.
Based on these numbers, it had been decided to locate a mixed office/warehouse in Shanghai.

We worked together with the decision makers to make sure all factors had been well considered.
The data provided made it clear that this second attempt would also fail unless significant changes were made.

Factors such as

• Changing market situation
• On-site policies and developments
• Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine rules
• Changing countrywide sociopolitical situation
• Investor position in the market
• Competitor analysis and business models

had not been considered.
Reliance on the investor’s name and market klowledge in Germany factored most heavily in the decision making process for the China business.

This discrepancy had to be bridged.
In the planning stage, we included such factors and patiently created understanding about many of these factors.

Simultaneously working out several credible solutions for our investor, we helped guide the decisions towards a China-adapted strategy, making sure most resources from that point onward could be committed to a positive outcome and gradually bringing the endeavor on the track to success and slowly creating understanding of international business culture.

Preparing well in advance for the growing work package, Sebastian had already identified necessary measures, sources and strategies for most of these points by the time the decision was made and could thus immediately act them out, saving time and money.

As the project’s very tough timeline coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic, overall progress was under constant danger from daily situational changes.

Crisis: Border Closure
Very early on, after analyzing the data available, we managed to predict the impending Chinese border closure and the risks this posed to the project at that stage.
As the only way to clear up the situation, commence process transfer and start training local staff was for Sebastian to transfer over, a border closure for an indeterminate amount of time could cause time and cost overshoot and thus failure.
After analyzing the developing situation in early 2020, studying numbers, developments and political decisions as well as carefully weighing the risks and opportunities involved, Sebastian produced a plan to accelerate training and visa processes in order to reach China in time.

Due to internal decisions, management rejected this proposal.
As a result, borders closed days before Sebastian’s flight.

Crisis: Special Entry Permit
Only 5 months of time-consuming and costly efforts at getting an unofficial, special enty permit on one of very few flights into China made it possible for us to save the project.
At a time when the border to China was officially closed with no way in, working together with local and federal governments in both countries as well as government-attached agents we managed to identify the only channel that permitted entry into the country.
This channel, still unofficial at the time, was earmarked for natives but Sebastian convinced the relevant authorities and got granted the required document.

Persistent business restrictions
The pandemic caused a series of restrictions both directly and indirectly to all sectors.
Focus went to on keeping supply stable within the volatile environment.
Altering the supply chain even for market-established businesses was disincentivized and became an addidional challenge.
Turning various challenges that arose from the pandemic into sucess stories, Sebastian was able to convince vendors and customers alike to trust in the investor’s company as a resilient and strategic supply partner.

Crisis: 2022 Lockdown
After supply lanes had already been set up, the pandemic situation was worsening.
Keeping in close contact with local government representatives and decision makers, we anticipated a coming lockdown.
Thus we proactively set out to protect our customers by working together and shipping as many goods as possible ahead of schedule.
As the predictions came true, our customers could keep their production going with the safety stock we helped them build up.
When the lockdown took longer than expected with no predictable end in sight, this safety stock gave us the caluable time needed to route shipments from our German warehouse as a second source.
This greatly helped us establish the new business as a reliable, trustworthy and stable distributor and quickly deepen relationships.
Vendors were equally impressed and mentioned that none of their other distributors had managed to handle the crisis this well.

Due to the 

After a good initiative in preparing and pre-arranging on-site resources, the process could nonetheless be finished smoothly. 
Having at his disposal 2 weeks to finish these tasks, Sebastian planned to use 7 days. 
At the end, all was done within 3 days.

Initial time allocated for initial establishment – registration, license, premises – had been one year.
Due to the highlighted circumstances, almost half of that time was gone.

Sebastian developed a thorough strategy to open the Chinese market to the investor, who had no such strategy prior.

Analyzing all development plans of the entire East China for the coming years, consulting with seasoned and experienced veterans such as the German Chamber of Commerce as well as international and Chinese experts, industry representatives and specialsts and taking into account risks and opportunities during Covid-19, it became very clear that the differences in market would mean a a new strategy would need to be adapted which Sebastian happily developed and implemented.

• border closures, negating the promised on-site support
• the pandemic cautioning vendors and customers against changing the supply chain
• pandemic-caused difficulty creating vendor-customer networks
• potential employees feeling incentivized prioritize job security
• investor reluctance to adapt the new branch to local culture, rules and requirements
• situation of the market in question
• cost of operation in the city in question
• general personnel disposition in the city in question
• local policies disincentivizing the type of business

After Sebastian managed to definitely prove the necessity of having accounting handled by an experienced international service, he needed to audit and recruit one such provider.

Thus Sebastian searched for, analyzed, compared and assessed such providers and selected the ones most suitable to the investor’s corporate situation. 
Initial reluctance to adhere to requirements set out by the governing body required great amounts of convincing in order to make the new financial and accounting structure compliant with Chinese and German rules and regulations.

Bank accounts had to follow clear requirements set by the Chinese authorities regarding international business and investment.
Sebastian managed to provide a financial and banking solution package in German- and Chinese law-compliant fashion that proved convincing for the investor to follow.

The most suitable service provider for this was initially not willing to take on the investor’s business. After finding an interim solution and three years of networking and cooperation, Sebastian managed to finally get the business onboarded at the end.

• office and personnel space was undesired
• location near the sea
• area’s high cost level
• rapid expansion capability despite low initial footprint
• local policies disincentivizing distribution businesses

Data and valuable advice from multiple sources including the German Chamber of Commerce corroborated these findings and were presented accordingly.
After comprehensive tours of the megacity districts and learning of their history, development and planned development, Sebastian was able to narrow down the best locationsfrom a logistical, structural, economical and personnell perspective.
After collecting all data, Sebastian reconstructed the floor plan using his CAD experience and civil engineering background.

Energy conservation was also important and could be marketed as environment protectionalism. 
In order to facilitate warehousing, each aisle was equipped with motion sensors in order to only illuminate the exact area of operation. This would cut down on energy cost and provide workers with worry-free access. 
Since commercial sensors had to be used, Sebastian designed and produced special angled sensor shades that limit the sensor area to the precise area required.
It was a quick and easy solution in line with budget. 

Furthermore, this helped us in winning our first award certificate in the field of Green Operation – certificates being very important in China, this helped the company’s reputation.

In Stage 1, lighting and sensors alike would be mounted on inexpensive, disposable metal profiles stuck into the storage rack beams.

Not only does this create a fully functioning and highly cost-efficient business, it also permits all this in an incredibly short amount of time, lower the initial threshold and provide easy scalability.  

After working together with and gaining approval by building management,  Sebastian designed a set of brackets and braces as well as a modular second-story floor that fit on top of the existing racks.
With all components pre-produced offsite to reduce dirt on all stored goods, reduce interference and increase upgrade speed and efficiency, the modular structure was simply assembled on top of the racks which then acted as a robust and secure foundation for the second story racks.

A freight elevator was installed, the sliding door and mechanism a custom design by Sebastian. In effect, this noninvasively added a new storey which is not integral to the building and can be easily disassembled and reassembled at a new location for cost efficiency.

Employee access happened via the elevated office, with one staff usually assigned the top warehouse floor, and another on the lower floor working as a team, their handshake point being the elevator shaft.
In practice this worked so well that during stocking or shipping, the goods flow was very quick and smooth with zero wait.

Hinged railings were also incorporated that could be swiveled to allow forklift access or others. This served both as redundancy and in case of special loads.

Each level featured three-zone moisture level control as well as redundant air driers and, as backup, aircon.

On the first level, clever spacing allowed the gaps to be utilized as pallet storage.

Additional challenges due to the Covid-19 situation and fast approaching lockdown were:

a)increased goods demand

b)difficulty in sourcing building materials

c)external contractor contact being a risk a risk simultaneously

d)constantly changing rules and precautions requiring extra capacity

This was another critical moment. Good crisis management would be the best proof of competence in a high-competition, highly troubled market. 

The upgrade was projected by Sebastian to take 8 weeks under normal conditions.
As per investor timetable he was granted 6 weeks in spite of the coming lockdown. 
He managed to open the double-capacity warehouse within 4 weeks. 

It can’t be understated how critical it was to have the right employees, with the right training and understanding of the task and the importance of their efforts. 

The prerequisite for Warehouse II was significantly different from and far outside any previous scope or agreement.
Strict orders to acquire much more space but strictly not granted any budget to do so required Sebastian to adjus the strategy to meet demands.

The building complex proved suitably dry and easy to access with only minor modifications and the design of a special, mobile loading/unloading ramp.

Intagration into the IT infrastructure also had to be taken care of.

Carefully balancing the expense in cost, time, effort and trying to preserve the company image, a use for this space then had to be found. 

The solution was fourfold: 

• Restructuring of company workflow.
  Shipments would first be arrive in one section of WH-II, inspected and stored by pallet.
  WH-II would, once a week, replenish WH-I which itself was to retain ~4 weeks of goods in individual packages.
  WH-I would handle commissioning, the prepared pallets would then be transported to the outgoing area of WH-II for pickup.
• Flexible storage locations
  Using a clever system of spaced-out ground markers, generous pallet parking spots were designated. 
  Scannable tags were hung from movable steel wires attached to walls and pillars.
  This extremely cost efficient and versatile system would ensure the required structure, traceability and order. 
  To store more goods or subdivide entire sections, the wires, tags and markers could be moved to a more efficient spacing within minutes.
• Low investment
  Forfeiting the use of pallet racks meant savings thereof as well as eliminating the need for powered forklifts.
  Should it become necessary in the future, these could always be quickly added by shifting the a/m storage system to one side and upgrading the warehouse in sections.
• Commission-renting
  The storage solution devised by Sebastian was the most cost-efficient warehouse near the center of the city. 
  Due to his growing reputation for trustworthyness and efficient solutions, small businesses forced to store their goods out in the countryside showed interest in the competitive rates and logistical benefits.

Corporate operations, in the case of the distribution company in question, required a level of goods scheduling, tracing and planning that can be considered to be at a rather high level of efficiency and accuracy.
Most of the key strenght involved therein lay in the IT infrastructure and thus, this part required a great degree of attention.

Peripherals had to be tightly integrated into the system.
Furthermore, the investor greatly valued data security while requiring a system completely open to remote access.
After a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the unique rules and regulations within the PRC in that regard, Sebastian repeatedly presented crucial points, challenges and needs for adjustment as well as optimized solutions.

However, in spite of this, it was planned to deploy the required infrastructure in Germany and for Chinese staff to connect remotely. 
Sebastian meanwhile prepared an interim solution in order to ensure operability and cash flow.
Once the initial on-site registration was done and this the decision reversed, Sebastian already had had a solution prepared.

Close cooperation with the investor’s IT department and external software specialists enabled Sebastian to devise the solution of a stand-alone server  programmed and set up by a provider according to German standards.
There would be a permanent remote connection in order to allow the required transparency and control meeting investor requirements.

Unfortunately, supply shortages would cause a 9-month delay.

This was a crucial point which, could doom the endeavor. 
The 4-month lead created with incredible effort was offset and turned into an as-yet TBD delay.

The interim solution prepared in advance by Sebastian would be able to handle the ramp-up goods flow until the final system was on-line.
It assured the company had initial turnover, absolutely crucial for the business’s survival in light of the previous oversight.

More crucially, this still allowed process implementation and staff training in order to familiarize the team with operating principles, learn about the industry, commence cooperation with vendors and customers.

To save time in transit, the hardware would be partially prepared, to be finished on-site, the software suite virtually setup and later transferred.
A part of this software suite would still have to be implemented together with the system integrator via remote.

As the implementation coincided with a system upgrade at headquarters, it had not been possible to train on the new system beforehand.
In effect, both locations ended up implementing the system at the same time, learning from each other, speeding up fixes and feature implementation due to parallel troubleshooting.
In this way, the new China branch was able to have a positive effect on the implementation of the system at HQ.

Core system functionality was established within 4 weeks of hardware reception.
A 4,5-month lead that had turned into a 9 month delay had been rescued, the business was bac kon track with only a 1,5 week delay.