TWSBI: Determined to make good pens
TWSBI started out in manufacturing, handling metal stamping, other metalworking processes, and plastic injection molding, before producing mechanical pencils as an OEM for a Japanese firm. Altogether, TWSBI’s owner Jim Wang has been responsible for producing more than 100 million pens and pencils. With the profit margins for OEM work becoming increasingly thin, he decided to “make my own product” and thus created the TWSBI pen brand, which sells the first piston-filled fountain pens made in Taiwan.
Relying on his many years of experience, Wang—even before fountain pens took off in popularity—could see clearly the way the market was headed. T.Y. Lee, owner of the eponymous pen shop, was a friend, so Wang asked Lee about which kind of fountain pen was most popular. “Piston-filled fountain pens,” responded Lee. Wang borrowed one and within a week of studying it had created a prototype of his own.
At first, many elements had to be improved upon and many obstacles needed to be overcome. Wang went online to peruse forums devoted to fountain pens based in Taiwan, mainland China and the United States, posting illustrations of his designs and inviting comments. He noted that the most vexing aspects of fountain pens for most people were probably leaking ink, evaporating ink, and dried ink. Consequently, TWSBI’s fountain pens have twist-lock caps. Inside each is an airtight seal. This means that no ink leaks from the pens because of changes in atmospheric pressure or humidity.
When a fountain pen is damaged, you typically must send it back to the manufacturer to be repaired. That’s overly time consuming, says Wang. His pens are designed so that they can easily be taken apart. The parts are standardized. If a part gets broken, the company can send consumers a replacement part to install themselves.
The only part not made in house is the nib, which Wang gets from a German firm. Every time a shipment of nibs come in, each one is dipped in ink and tested for how it writes before being polished. After being cleaned, it is then installed on a new pen. “At our price point, no other manufacturer takes such pains to ensure that there will be no issues when a pen gets into a consumer’s hands.”
Wang also handles his own marketing. In the early years he often discussed TWSBI fountain pens with consumers on Internet forums, which created exposure for the brand. When foreign consumers from time to time posted “unboxings” of TWSBI fountain pens on Youtube, that helped too, as did the special area on the Fountain Pen Network website devoted to discussion of TWSBI pens. TWSBI takes consumers’ opinions on FPN and elsewhere seriously and incorporated netizens’ feedback into the design of its Diamond 530 pen, which won a German Red Dot design award in 2010.
From being a king of industrial processing and OEM work, Wang has come a long way. He is quite happy with his own product. “I’ve shown determination to manufacture good pens,” he says with satisfaction.
The written word helps bind people together.