Today, The Switch manufactures and tests high-quality marine PM machines in Nanjing, China, as well as in two locations in Finland. Our first PM marine machines were built and tested in Lappeenranta, Finland, where we established the processes that still form the foundation for our production today.
Over the past five years, the number of orders for our marine PM machines has grown very quickly as shipowners recognize our position at the top of the market, our strong reference list and our fast, flexible response to customer needs.
As demand grew, we soon needed greater production capacity. We started manufacturing in Vaasa, Finland, but also needed to cut back the cost and time required for transportation to our Asian customers. As a result, PM machine manufacturing was established in Nanjing, China.
Ensuring quality across the world
For the past two years, I’ve been the senior manufacturing engineer overseeing production quality as we prepared for and began production in Nanjing. My focus has been on making sure customers get the same quality machine no matter where it’s produced.
Our years of experience in Finland have resulted in precise, detailed equipment setup and procedures that reliably produce top-quality machines. This made it possible for us to deliver to the team in China the same mechanical equipment, tools, instructions and methods to produce and test our PM machines exactly as we do in Finland.
I’ve spent many weeks in China assisting the local team. Each trip lasted two to three weeks and was spent training, supervising, verifying and answering questions to ensure the team understood and followed our exacting processes and methods.
When I wasn’t in China, I was still available from Finland. In addition, other personnel from The Switch were always at the factory to handle questions and quality inspections related to our products and processes.
We had everything in place and all staff fully trained by our target date, despite the 7,000-km distance and the six-hour time difference between our offices in Finland and China. An effort like this, with very limited time for implementation, was a significant challenge. We are proud to have avoided any showstoppers along the way.
I am very impressed by how well our Chinese team and partners handle the entire process. Production in China follows the same documentation and inspection procedures we use in Finland, and all machines are tested before delivery.
The teams in both Finland and China are highly motivated. Everyone is working closely together.
Production in China maintains high quality
Full production of our marine PM machines in Nanjing began in 2024. Machines leaving our factories from Nanjing are identical to those produced in Finland and comply with the same high-quality standards, meeting the strict demands of our customers.
The high quality of all machines The Switch delivers confirms that we have achieved our goals in all three locations. Maintaining these excellent results is now part of my new role as Quality Manager.
This consistent quality is also reflected in customer demand. Record-breaking orders arrived in the spring of 2025, exceeding the total order volume of 2024.
Building on our strong reputation among Asian customers, we have completed factory acceptance testing (FAT) each week in China and have delivered machines to tens of satisfied customers.
Looking ahead, our order backlog for 2026–2029 includes well over a hundred tested machines, ensuring continued production activity in Nanjing for the coming years.
Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to discuss your next project!
Quality Manager
Alexey Venderev
Alexey Venderev is Quality Manager based in Lappeenranta, Finland, with a strong background in manufacturing and process optimization. He began his career at The Switch four years ago as Manufacturing Engineer during the first PMM2000M delivery project and later played a key role in mechanical assembly and testing equipment deployment for the Nanjing factory in China. Today, he focuses on maintaining and improving the quality of machines delivered to customers, ensuring reliability and compliance with high industry standards.