Global terrorist threat may paradoxically realize more business opportunities
Song Mark Enterprise Co., Ltd. recently became ISO14001- and RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) approved after being ISO9001:2000-certified a few years ago, attesting to its manufacturing quality and commitment to environmental protection.
"This is just like a dream coming true as we are accountable and try to meet high standards," says company president Y.S. Wu as he points to a framed motto on the wall: "Brave to Dream, Brave to Take Responsibility, Brave to Fulfill." Wu elaborates and says that "you dream, move in a new direction, take a new road, and give it all you got without giving up."
Wu and his wife.
Wu`s company is a leading Taiwanese manufacturer of plastic injection molds and injected parts on the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and original design manufacturing (ODM) basis. His company has made considerable progress in improving precision of its products since its establishment in 1979, enabling it to venture into the field of parts for medical equipment, consumer electronics, and information/communications products.
"My first dream was setting up my own business and I carried it out in 1979," Wu says. Born to a farmer in the Taiwanese Hakka County of Miaoli, Wu started his business from scratch. "I had no financial support from my family, but I had a dream and plenty of will," he says, implying why he could not expand as fast as many of his rivals back home.
Nevertheless, Wu`s company has seen revenues quadruple since 1990, averaging US$5 million a year. He ascribes such healthy growth mostly to transforming from a mere manufacturer relying on local orders to one able to tap overseas markets.
Song Mark’s injected precision plastic parts.
"We began shooting for overseas orders as many of our local buyers had moved to China and reduced outsourcing in Taiwan," Wu recalls. His first overseas order came from a Japanese electrical-equipment supplier. "They looked us over for nearly two years before finally placing an order," he adds.
Today, his company`s products are shipped to big-name suppliers in Europe, North America, and Japan such as Apollo Fire Detector Ltd. (U.K.), Keeler Ltd. (U.K. & U.S.A), KAC Alarm Co., Ltd. (U.K.), Black & Decker (U.K.), Dedicated Microcomputers Groups Ltd. (U.K.), Dana Douglas Medical Inc. (Canada), H.E.S. Inc. (U.S.A.), Cardinal Scale Mfg., Co. (U.S.A.), SECOH Sanhyo Co., Ltd. (Japan), Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (Japan), and Paxton Access Ltd. (Japan).
In the early days, Wu had only 10 employees and a factory of around 4,000 square feet. Today, his factory is 30,000 square feet while the workforce has increased to 60 people. In 1996, they opened a factory employing 200 workers in China to handle low-end, big-volume orders.
Song Mark’s injected precision plastic parts.
Setting Higher-Than-Expected QC Standards
"Winning overseas orders is not a snap," Wu says. His forte is stringent quality control that assures high precision. "We usually set QC standards 30% higher than those of our customers`," he says.
Maintaining high precision is a huge challenge as the company produces over 4,000 parts. "Each part," he notes, "usually requires several stages of processing, with complicated parts needing as many as 27 stages."
For precision production management, the company attaches to each part an identification, which carries a string of specifications covering material content to packaging. "We manage such data with computers and confirm them against physical products daily before production," Wu notes. Every morning, the company`s chief QC officer, Johnson Chang, checks the first pieces from the company`s 15 injection machines before production.
Chang, an officially-certified QC engineer, says he makes workers at every processing station a customer of their upstream coworker. "When they find defective items from upstream lines, they kick the workpieces back," Chang notes. Each line worker uses a standard guide to check products. "We also do a final pre-delivery examination," he adds.
The company has a seasoned engineering department to back up its QC unit, with the former staffed with several U.K.-educated engineers who use design software such as AUTOCAD R14, EXPORT CAD CAM, and Pro Engineer. Wu says that these engineers design and develop tooling for the company and its customers. "They have on average 10 years of experience in this field," he says.
The company also runs well-equipped production lines, with a combination of 48 injection machines at its Taiwan and China factories, which feature injection forces from 80 tons to 1,000 tons; as well as 15 ultrasonic welders rated from 1,000 watts to 3,200 watts, and a series of inspection systems. In addition, its tooling units in Taiwan and China run 12 mold injection machines; four CNC milling machines; two CNC electricity discharge machines (EDMs); five EDMs; two high-speed lathes; two grinders; four adjustable-arm drilling machines; three knife-edge forming machines; and three machining centers.
Wu says that consummate manufacturing expertise makes his company one of the few Taiwanese factories geared to produce the widest range of plastics. "Recognizing our excellent manufacturing caliber, the American detection-instrument designer ICT recently contracted us to build their products. ICT develops detectors targeting dangerous objects. It is our first deal with a biotech firm," Wu boasts. He envisions more business of similar nature to come to his company soon due to the terrorist threat being a global phenomenon.
"With manufacturing quality raised to a higher level, we are living up to our corporate motto," Wu concludes. (By KEN LIU,Dec. 2006)
(by Ken Liu)
