Taiwan's Paper-making Machine Manufacturers Capture International Market with Quality

Some add whole-plant services to its business to meet growing customers' demand

Taiwan is one of the world's largest suppliers of paper-making and converting machines. Manufacturers in the line offer a comprehensive range of models, and some have transformed themselves into turnkey solution providers to keep ahead of the competition.

With demand booming in emerging markets such as China and Southeast Asia, this year promises to be a time of new opportunities for the manufacturers, despite the shaky global economic recovery, thanks to the reputation for quality and reliable after-sales service they have built up over the years. The international marketing network that they have developed also helps, as does the continuous investment in advanced R&D equipment that allows them to meet the diverse requirements of customers everywhere.

Chan Li: A Focus on Automation
One of the island's top makers in the line is Chan Li Machinery Co., which was established in 1987 and has grown into a leading manufacturer of converting equipment for packaging systems. The firm has transformed itself from a maker of single machines into a supplier of whole-plant solutions and technical know-how, with a comprehensive product line that includes automatic facial tissue interfolding machines, slitting and rewinding machines, jumbo roll tissue converting machines, packaging machines, and handkerchief folding and packaging machines.

Ever since its inception, Chan Li has worked constantly to upgrade the processing speed and width of its machines, and its top-flight R&D program has won it numerous patents worldwide.

Vice president Roger Wu stresses that his company has devoted itself to helping customers achieve full-plant automation and the streamlining of production structures to reduce production variables. “With automation,” he explains, “customers can not only improve their cost competitiveness and production efficiency, but can also enhance their product quality by using the manpower they save through automation to carry out quality control.”

Product flexibility is another focus of Chan Li's operations. “In the past years,” Wu says, “we have made great strides in integrating mechanical and electrical systems in our machines. Operators can easily adjust product size or length through external settings, without having to replace components, and this saves a lot of cost.”

The firm's marketing manager, Danny Lien, reports that Chan Li has enjoyed growth in recent years, thanks mainly to facial tissue interfolding machines and handkerchief folding and packaging machines. “The improving economy and growing awareness of hygiene in mainland China have driven a remarkable growth in market demand there for facial tissue and handkerchiefs,” he explains.

In the coming year, Wu states, his company will work aggressively to tap the hand towel market. “Despite the fact that many manufacturers engage in hand towel production,” he comments, “only a few manufacturers anywhere are able to offer automated machines for making that product. In Taiwan, we are the only one.”

The company's exports now go all over the world, and an influx of orders from China has boosted revenue growth to 30-40% a year. To cope with rising market demand and improve its management efficiency, Chan Li has begun introducing advanced enterprise resource planning (ERP) and the Toyota production system (TPS). Through the four principles of automation, flexibility, labor conservation, and simplicity, Wu stressed, Chan Li aims to help its customers become the No. 1 suppliers in their regional markets.

JPMC: A Constant Upgrading of Innovative Folding Technology
Located in New Taipei City in northern Taiwan, Jiuhyan Precision Machinery Co., Ltd. (JMPC) has become a popular original equipment/design manufacturer (OEM/ODM) of tissue paper converting machinery, with a large product line that encompasses facial tissue machines, hand towel machines, paper napkin machines, non-woven machines, and C-fold/Z-fold hand towel machines with innovative folding technology, excellent function, and attractive appearance.

The company's tissue paper machine line alone covers toilet roll rewinding and perforating machines, log cutters, spiral paper tube winding machines, paper box gluing and sealing machines, fully automatic wet paper towel converting machines, and paper core making machines. Most are manufactured on a custom-order basis and are made to meet CE$ standards, according to company manager S.L. Wei.

JPMC has developed multifunctional converting machines which perform embossing, multicolor printing, folding, and related processing. In recent years the company has added whole-plant services in addition to single machines to its business in response to the needs of the tissue paper and paper napkin industry.

The firm also offers integrated manufacturing services from material sourcing, design, R&D, tooling selection, mass production, and quality control processes to delivery. It devotes considerable R&D resources to the upgrading of folding technologies and the meeting of all conceivable demand for folding.

In addition to providing its customers with quality machinery, JPMC also extends friendly and efficient services to them. “In the future,” Wei says, “we would like to offer value-added products to meet the diverse demands of our customers, and to price them competitively and assure that they have uncompromising quality.” The products are currently exported to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the U.S.

Baoder: Expanding the International Marketing Network
Baoder Enterprise Co., Ltd. was founded in 1988 and has become one of Taiwan's most sophisticated manufacturers of fully automatic high-speed die cutting machines and foil stamping machines. The company has become recognized worldwide for its principle of customer orientation and its dedication to innovative R&D, and for its “Baoder” brand. It boasts European Standard and CE certification.

The company's fully automatic high-speed die cutting machines and foil stamping machines are used for embossing, die cutting, foil stamping, and stripping with a wide range of items, including color boxes, cigarette packs, corrugated paperboard boxes, puzzles, self-adhesive stickers, paper boxes, PVC boxes, PET boxes, lunch-box cases, and paper cups. The extensive die-cutting range stretches from 70g/m2 thin paper to 1,500g/m2 corrugated paper.

With more than four decades of experience in the industry, Baoder's founder, Liang Chin Wang, has the sharp market sense and eagerness to develop innovative machines he needs to play a vital role in the company's success. Under his leadership, Baoder not only carries out constant plant expansions and equipment upgrades but also employs the latest management systems for inventory, quality control, purchasing, sales, accounting, and trading. The internal management networks are fully integrated online, and the most advanced drawing software helps boost design efficiency and provides customers with convenient assembly and maintenance instructions.

Manager Annie Zeng notes that despite the gloomy economic climate and the European debt crisis, Baoder will continue with its steady cultivation of global markets. Its marketing network now extends to more than 20 countries on all continents, allowing quick response to customer inquiries. The firm has spared no effort in building a strong brand image in the expectation of a long-term payoff, participating in a variety of international exhibitions (including the 2012 Drupa Print Media Fair in Germany) to brighten it image.

Career: Building a Reputation for Trust
The Taipei-based Career Industry Corp. is one of Taiwan's leading suppliers of, and coordinators for, paper tube-making equipment. In its more than two decades of operation, the company has helped customers install several hundred paper core-making machines at locations all over the world, including mainland China, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Poland, Belarus, Mexico, India, and Ecuador.

The company's cutting-edge automated production lines provide loading, cutting, unloading, conveying, polishing/bending, calendaring, grooving, and notching of textile tubes for yarn. Its strong development and manufacturing capabilities enable it to supply a full range of machinery products—spiral paper core winders, paper roll stand and gluing systems, slitter and rewinding machines, paper core re-cutters, angular cardboard-making machines, hot-melting glue coating and laminating machines, seamless tube grinding machines, and paper tube winders, among others—to meet the diverse needs of customers the world over.

Career's paper core winders provide synchronous cutting and rolling speed to control cutting length precisely, and are equipped with touch-screen control panels. Its paper core re-cutters are capable of short cutting for long paper tubes, with some models having air-discharge systems to boost productivity.

A recently introduced hot-melt glue coating and laminating machine can handle a range of materials such as kraft paper, plastic film, metal foil, and non-woven textiles that are made into tags, labels, tape, and medical supplies. The company's products are designed to be environmentally friendly and, instead of physically harmful solvent adhesives, use nontoxic hot-melt glue applied through high-precision glue-spraying nozzles.

Career boasts that it has won the trust of major businesses including the Formosa Plastics Group, Asia Chemical Corp., Chin Tung Chemical Industrial, Four Pillars Enterprise, Asia Pulp & Paper, New Toyo International Holdings, Yunnan Hongta Group, and Rong Sheng Chemical Fibre Group, all of which have installed its paper core-making machines.