Rubber Fab, a Garlock Hygienic Technologies company -- a recognized supplier of high performance sanitary gaskets, hoses and fittings for hygienic process industries such as pharmaceutical, bio-processing and food & beverage -- was acquired by Garlock in 2016. Since the acquisition, Garlock has been leveraging its well-established sales teams and regional facilities to expand the reach of Rubber Fab's range of products. 

Garlock Singapore, which is primarily responsible for business in Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea, has been strategically positioned as a regional hub to drive the growth of the food, beverage and pharmaceutical market segments across the entire Asia Pacific region, including Australia, China, India and New Zealand.

"Rubber Fab's critical process consumables are being met with rising demand, and a bolstered focus on manufacturing and warehousing was needed to best serve customers in the region," said Angelia Kay, Managing Director of Garlock Singapore. "We anticipate exciting growth opportunities in the food and pharmaceutical markets, and with our expanded capabilities we can offer localized service, fast response times and shorter deliveries."

2018 marked the first year that all of Rubber Fab's Asia-Pacific customers were served directly out of the regional hub in Singapore, leading to a number of customer improvements. The 3,300 square meter facility is now home to the first Rubber Fab hose shop outside of their US facility, and has the capability to crimp, assemble and hydro-test hoses all within a week. As customers in this space value product traceability, laser-etched products can now be provided out of the regional hub for added convenience. The company also invested to build up significant inventory holding and dedicated sales and support team to better serve Asia customers in the same time zone.

Garlock has set an aggressive growth target to double business in the Asia-Pacific region in the first year of operating as the regional food & pharmaceutical hub. Sales are currently concentrated in Singapore, but growth is strategically targeted for Australia, India, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea.

"The sustained success achieved by Garlock and Rubber Fab demonstrates the exemplary service and cutting-edge products that this team has brought to market," said Kent Lee, Asia Pacific Segment Manager, Food & Pharmaceutical, Garlock Hygienic Technologies. "As demand in these segments dictates, we will continue to scale operations to ensure the highest level of service to our customers."

Garlock's presence and scale in the hygienic market space complements their existing sealing solutions to provide a truly comprehensive portfolio, now more accessible to customers in the region. (MOR/*).