Orbo Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, located in the Waigaoqiao bonded area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, was approved to carry out a comprehensive bonded and non-bonded maintenance business, indicating that the free trade zone has transformed from a provider of single function processing and manufacturing to one of high value-added and multi-functional services.

It also demonstrated the important achievements of various measures taken by the Waigaoqiao bonded area customs and other departments in promoting the transformation and upgrading of regional industrial structures and promoting the agglomeration of global maintenance enterprises in the free trade zone.

Orbo Trading was established in the Waigaoqiao bonded area in 2017. Its parent company, Orbotech, is a global equipment supplier for electronic products and micro-manufacturing. It is headquartered in Israel and is also a NASDAQ-listed company in the United States. 

Orbotech provides automated production equipment, laser direct imaging production systems and automated optical inspection technology for manufacturers of printed circuit boards, flat panel displays, advanced packaging, microelectronic mechanical systems and other electronic components, and helps high-tech electronics manufacturers improve yields. 

With the development of Orbotech's global business, and especially its expansion in Greater China, the importance of its after-sales services has become more prominent, and maintenance orders and demand have increased year by year. 

In order to expand the Chinese market, carry out efficient low-cost maintenance and meet other after-sales requirements, Orbotech chose to explore a bonded and non-bonded maintenance business in the Waigaoqiao bonded area. 

According to the current customs requirements, bonded and non-bonded businesses need to be strictly divided into two sites, and physical isolation should be conducted in the form of two separate production lines to avoid mixing of materials. 

However, due to the non-reproducibility of Orbotech's equipment needing repair, all maintenance procedures can only be completed on the same production line. 

In order to solve that operations difficulty, with the strong support of Waigaoqiao customs, Shanghai UDC Business Consulting Co, a subsidiary of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Group Co, planned the overall maintenance business process for Orbo Trading and provided a property plan. Shanghai Shine-link International Logistics Co undertook third-party logistics supervision to ensure strict separation of bonded materials and non-bonded parts.

Besides, by means of time-period maintenance and label identification, Shine-link also ensured the classified management of bonded materials and non-bonded materials. 

In addition, Orbotech hired Oracle to develop a specialized system to ensure the legal compliance of business activities while meeting the high-efficiency and low-cost requirements of its own operations. 

The customs carefully evaluated and eventually allowed Orbo Trading to carry out global maintenance operations using only one production line provided that Orbotech's product labeling and visual management were able to meet the standards.

The maintenance center operates with both ends of bonded production process abroad and both ends of non-bonded maintenance at home, covering all the needs of customers for after-sales service and perfecting the after-sales service system.

After the non-bonded maintenance business is officially launched, the maintenance performed by Orbo Trading is expected to increase significantly in 2019. By the end of 2022, the annual amount of such work is expected to reach 20 million US dollars.

Facing increasing energy consumption, countries around the world have attached great importance to and supported the development of the maintenance and remanufacturing industry. 

The after-sales service industry, such as maintenance and testing, which is at the high end of the industrial chain, is also accelerating in China. 

Based on the innovation pilot of Orbo Trading, the bonded area will further enhance clustering of the maintenance and inspection industry. 

According to the free trade zone administration, the region is developing multi-level global maintenance functions.

For example, pilot operations of bonded maintenance of marine equipment and direct supply of marine materials have been successfully carried out.

MAN completed the first direct supply business of international ship equipment in the bonded maintenance zone of the Yangshan bonded port area, and formed a public warehouse operation plan for marine materials.

Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services Co achieved new breakthroughs. The first new-generation 737 freighter was refitted and successfully delivered in the Pudong Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone.

Industry insiders believe that in the context of Shanghai's efforts to launch “Shanghai manufacturing” and “Shanghai service” brands, the development of global maintenance, testing and remanufacturing services at both ends of the “smile curve” will help upgrade Shanghai's manufacturing industry through technology upgrading.

It will help promote the extension of manufacturing enterprises from processing trade to service trade with higher technical content and higher profits. It is also suitable for the current situation of land resources and human resources in Shanghai.