Empower Innovation for Business Success

Swiss engineering consultancy Zühlke set up in Hong Kong to help regional clients to embark on the digital transformation journey.

Founded in Zurich in 1968, Zühlke is an innovative solution service provider, focusing on helping companies to transform their vision from a smart idea into a market success. One of the biggest consultancies of its kind in Europe, Zühlke’s clientele covers a wide range of industries across the world, from machinery and plant engineering, to medical technology as well as finance and banking services. By providing high-end engineering to support clients’ digital transformation, Zühlke has always been a trusted partner of its clients to innovate business and catch up with this technology-driven world.

Currently with over 14 offices across 8 countries, Zühlke opened a new office in Hong Kong in 2017, its second location in Asia after Singapore, in order to better support their long term clients in the region. “Many of our clients already have a presence in Hong Kong, and that’s why we came here to support them,” said Jonas Trindler, Asia Managing Director, “we strive to provide service with European quality and standard, and help our clients to keep up with the innovation pace.”

Dr Wolfgang Emmerich, CEO and Chairman, said, “the strategy of following global clients to Hong Kong has worked really well for us. As our model is fundamentally relationship-driven, having such network is crucial for us to start in a new location like Hong Kong.”

According to Dr Emmerich, Hong Kong is a fertile place for Zühlke to expand in Asia. He remarked, “there is an excellent education of science and technology in Hong Kong where one can find some of the world’s top-ranking universities, making an abundant supply of talent in the field.”

“Hong Kong’s legal system is very similar to that in England where I come from, and with English being a dominant language spoken in the city, complement with easy access to Mainland China, it is very convenient for us to set up in every aspect,” he said.

Establishing Zühlke’s office in Hong Kong with a team of six, Dr Moritz Gomm, Executive Director, said that the diversified talent pool is the key to the company’s success. “We have hired a team of software engineer, UX expert, software architects as well as project managers; it’s a well-mixed team of local and expats sharing an agile mindset,” Gomm said, adding that the headcount in Hong Kong is expected to increase by four times in 18 months’ time. “I am very optimistic for such growth rate as the business is going very well since we came here.”

Dr Gomm noted that setting up a business in Hong Kong had been smooth and easy for him. “InvestHK has provided guidance on the aspects that we should consider and connected us to the right partners. They also invited us to many networking events, their help has made an easy start for us,” he concluded.