Sanhua focuses on cooling and heating systems manufacturing

Honeywell International Inc, BMW AG and General Electric Co have one thing in common: Some air conditioning and refrigeration parts used in their products come from the same supplier, China's Sanhua Holding Group.

The three brands represent the three industries that Sanhua's products are being widely used: HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) machines for commercial and residential buildings, air conditioning and thermal systems in automobiles, and home appliances that need cooling and heating functions.

Sanhua in Chinese means "three flowers". Coincidentally Sanhua's products have now blossomed in three areas. When Zhang Daocai founded Sanhua in 1984 in a small town in southeastern China, he hoped that the flowers of "management, technology and talents" could lead his small refrigeration components factory to a bright future.

By focusing on technology, Sanhua has developed into one of China's leading manufacturers of cooling and thermal parts and systems, employing more than 10,000 people worldwide with production bases in North America, Europe and Asia.

Sanhua's dedication to innovation has won it big-name followers.

According to Zhang Yabo, president of Sanhua, Carrier Corporation, the inventor and global leading manufacturer of HVAC machines, has signed a strategic agreement with Sanhua to co-develop a control system for Carrier's products.

"We also recently won a bid to provide electric expansion valves to the leading electric-car manufacturer in the United States, who has very high standard in energy efficiency," said Zhang, stopping short of naming the car company.

Sanhua is among the pioneers of Chinese companies to sell products in the US market, first through a trade company in the 1990s, then establishing its own US operation in 2002.

Sanhua's US connection went deeper in 2007 when the company acquired Ranco, the inventor and world's leading manufacturer of four-way valves, which are used in HVAC machines to control the flow of refrigerant to switch between cooling and heating.

Sanhua continues to build upon Ranco. Its FWV product is now on its fourth generation, supplying leading global HVAC brands including Carrier, Honeywell and Goodman Manufacturing Company LP, along with other parts.

"The FWV we sell now is 80 percent smaller than the original Ranco size, which greatly reduced price and energy consumption," said Huang Linjie, Sanhua's chief scientist in charge of the company's R&D efforts worldwide.