Jinpao Precision Industry Company, which set up shop in Thailand in 1998, has become a model of success among Taiwanese enterprises in the kingdom. Its core business is precision sheet metal fabrication. It was listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 2017.   

The company’s president, Victor ­Chung, recounts how he went to Thailand 28 years ago to start his own business there from scratch. It was only a year after he had graduated from college and he relied on his natural fearlessness when he left his home in Taiwan to try his fortunes abroad. Who would have imagined that today Jinpao does some NT$1.4 billion in business a year? The company’s technological excellence in flexible production and smart manufacturing has led to orders from major manufacturers in Europe, North America, and Asia.

Jinpao’s success is the result of Victor Chung’s vision and careful planning.

High-end sheet metal processing

Jinpao’s product lines include all kinds of everyday items such as cutlery, shelving and domestic furniture. But ­Chung knew that to be competitive he would need to focus on certain high-end markets. Thus, more than a ­decade ago, he targeted six industries to be the com­pany’s chief clients—aerospace, electronics, food processing, healthcare, communications, and green energy.

Jinpao’s ability to manufacture aerospace-grade products has greatly enhanced its reputation. Aerospace manu­factur­ing requires a high degree of precision and consistency and involves small-batch production of diverse items. In addition it is necessary to obtain various certifications before production. Aerospace manufacturing is therefore seen in the industry as the gold standard.

The company has received AS9100 quality management certification, an important credential for the aerospace industry. It also holds Nadcap aerospace industry certification in three specialized areas—welding, chemical processing and nondestructive testing. It is thus authorized to produce avionics equipment and undertake orders for Boeing. Jin­pao is constructing its Phase 4 factory to concentrate on the enormous market for aerospace structural components. It will include anodizing and heat-treatment facilities, further upgrading the company’s manufacturing capabilities.

Under ­Chung’s management, Jin­pao has relied on equipment upgrades to improve its competitiveness. He says that company spends about NT$100 million on upgrades annually. When Jin­pao opened a manufacturing facility in the Bang­poo Industrial Estates, located just outside Bangkok, it installed argon laser welding equipment, 3D laser cutting and welding equipment, automated optical sensors, and mass spectrometers, among other advanced machinery.

The company’s aerospace-accredited Phase 2 facility differs greatly from typical sheet metal factories. In the enormous plant, human voices are few and far between. A series of numerically controlled machines run the production process from loading, cutting, stamping, molding, welding to assembly. The automated processes are accurate, rapid, and silent. It requires only a few technicians at workstations to monitor the process with computer systems.

The plant’s top-grade equipment was custom built by Japanese machine makers ­Amada and cost the company some NT$150 million. Most companies can only dream of having such a facility, and it has helped Jin­pao to outpace competitors in the industry. As a result the company has won contracts with Boeing, Airbus and other major aerospace companies.

Jinpao Precision Industry Company’s automated sheet metal plants can be operated with a barebones staff, who monitor production from computer workstations.

Smart factories on the horizon

The more rapidly market conditions change, Chung believes, the more opportunity will favor the prepared. In 2004 he began to focus on customization for the high-end market to accommodate the diversity of orders and product specifications. Six years ago, before the Taiwan government’s New Southbound Policy, he began to adjust for changing trends. He began to rely more on automation, digitization, and intelligent production methods to meet increasingly complex modes of production. 

He created an international development and production team with planning in Japan, software development in India, and production in Thailand. To integrate the process, he created specialized management software, called Jin­pao 4.0, which combines daily production scheduling, enterprise resource planning, product lifecycle management, manufacturing execution and real-time monitoring systems. Production can be controlled and monitored through computer stations known as interactive kiosks. The technology upgrades are also being applied to other aspects of the business, including sales and administration. While many other companies are contemplating how to upgrade for the new generation of production known as Industry 4.0, Jin­pao is already leading the way.

Traditional manufacturing processes still require considerable manpower.

Cultivating high-tech prowess

As large enterprises race to innovate to enhance their competitiveness, the Thai government’s economic reform plan, called Thailand 4.0, is also encouraging industrial upgrading and spurring many small and medium-sized enterprises to jump on the bandwagon. The BDI Group is a prime example. It manufactures products from plastics and aluminum alloys and has been operating in Thailand for 40 years.

“As manufacturers, we’ve got to race to keep ahead,” says Belinda Chang­ka­jon­sakdi, BDI president, speaking of the need for industrial upgrading.

Five years ago, BDI began to invest in automated production facilities, and when the Thai government began to encourage SMEs to upgrade, BDI sought out the opportunity to work with Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) to bring in a technical advisor from Taiwan.

It was in this way that BDI got access to the expertise of ­Chang Jen-an, a consultant to the NSTDA. Chang notes that traditionally manufacturing has relied on the experience and judgment of technical personnel who arrive at solutions through trial and error, combined with repeated testing and measurement. But this results in much waste of time and resources. For enterprises wishing to upgrade, it is not enough merely to purchase automated equipment; they also need to apply standardized operating procedures that enable data and outcomes to be tracked consistently. 

Aside from assisting BDI with defining standardized procedures, ­Chang also introduced computerized engineering analysis to solve production problems. 

Growing up in Thailand as second-generation Taiwanese immigrants prompted Yosapol Changcharoenkij (left) and Belinda Changkajonsakdi (right) to facilitate educational opportunities for others.

Education at the fore

Under rapidly changing industrial conditions, skilled personnel are ever more vital, and companies are competing ferociously to attract talent.   

As a result, many established Taiwanese entrepreneurs in Thailand are recruiting recent graduates and establishing their own educational programs to cultivate talent.

A decade ago BDI’s founder, Su­­thum Chang­­ka­­jon­­sakdi—Belinda Chang­ka­jon­sakdi’s father—saw the shortcomings of Thailand’s vocational training. Because there was little coordination between formal education and industry needs, schools were failing to produce a sufficient number of graduates with technical skills. He therefore founded the Thai‡Taiwan (BDI) Technological College to train talent for Thailand’s Taiwanese enterprises.

The school’s curriculum is designed to meet the needs of industry, and the school offers two programs—vocational high school and two-year college. The former focuses on automotive parts manufacturing, and the latter on manufacturing technology and bookkeeping. About 20 students a year are provided with full scholarships for vocational education combined with practical internships. After graduation, students must spend two to three years working for a Taiwanese-owned company.

There is a saying that pioneers plant the trees and later generations enjoy the shade. As a founder of the Thai‡Chinese International School (TCIS), Su­thum Chang­ka­jon­sakdi counts as one of those pioneers.

Founded in 1995, this international school was originally established to educate the children of overseas­-based Taiwanese businesspeople. It is set up on the American educational system and includes education at all levels from kindergarten to high school. Teachers are recruited mostly from English-speaking countries. The school’s good reputation has also attracted Thai students, and many graduates go on to study in Taiwan.

Yosapol Chang­cha­ro­en­kij, president of Power Fast Corporation, joined the school’s board of directors in June. “Education is the foundation of everything,” he says. “The New Southbound Policy emphasizes a people-first approach, which really means focusing on education.

As a second-generation overseas Taiwanese entre­preneur, he worries about the education of today’s kids. “As overseas businesspeople we can’t just rush headlong without building a stable foundation by focusing on family and education,” he says. “Progress can only be made if we shore up those foundations.”

The BDI Technical College addresses the immediate needs of industry through its dual vocational high school and college education tracks. But the primary and middle-school education provided by TCIS cultivates cultural and social links between Thailand and Taiwan. The benefits might not be immediately visible, but these links could provide enormous advantages for industry in the future.

“As the second generation, we have deep feelings for Taiwan and also benefit from the business relationships our parents built,” says Belinda Chang­ka­jon­sakdi, who is also a director of the TCIS. “When we need to upgrade our factories today, we naturally think of buying Taiwanese equipment first.”

In schools founded by overseas Taiwanese, students come to know the kindness and compassion of Taiwan. “When students attend a Taiwanese school, their whole families get to know Taiwan better,” says Yo­sa­pol Chang­cha^­ro­en­kij.                            

Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.

The Thai–Chinese International School joins the festivities for Songkran, the Thai new year festival.