Jun Kaung Industries Co., Ltd. Is one of the world's few brand-name suppliers of fastening tie systems, since 1985 supplying such items as manual-operation pullers, ratchet tie-downs, trailer winches, and trailer jacks.



"No brand, no room for survival," says company president Charlie Hsieh of his competitive industry, which has an annual market value of just US$30 million worldwide.

Making a name in fastening-tie systems has proven to be a long and difficult job. In its first 10 years of operation, Jun Kaung was rejected by most buyers because of its insistence on branding its products. But Hsieh never gave up.


Patience Pays


Persistence began to reap rewards little by little as buyers, sold on Jun Kaung's high product quality and low prices, started placing orders. The company has benefited greatly from the experience of Hsieh and his vice president Dick Lai as materials specialists at the government-backed Metal Industries Research and Development Center (MIRDC) in achieving its superior quality; the center helps local hardware manufacturers develop new techniques and resolve technical difficulties.

Hsieh and Lai have personally handled the company's research and development work, which has been supported with a budget equal to 5% to 8% of the company's total annual revenue of US$5-6 million over the past few years.

Outstanding quality and design have paved the way for the company's ISO-9002, CE and GS certifications, as well as earned the company over 50 patents in Germany, Canada, the United States, Taiwan, and mainland China. Jun Kaung has also been a winner of Taiwan's Enterprise Innovation Research Award.

Perhaps the key indicator of Jun Kaung's success is the company's impressive list of buyers, which includes Maasdam (U.S.), CTC (Canada), Tachibana (Japan), and Triumph Motorcycles (U.K.). "All of these firms are professional retailers with excellent reputations in their home areas. We never do business with discount stores such as Wal-Mart and K-Mart, because we want to maintain our own image for professionalism," Hsieh states.

Jun Kaung helps Maasdam round out its product line to tap new market niches in the U.S.

Pricing is another crucial element in Jun Kaung's ability to win orders from these large-scale outfits. From the very beginning, the company has priced its products at very competitive levels. "In recent years, we have improved our ability to keep costs down," Hsieh says. Cost-cutting measures adopted by his company include entering into joint procurement, marketing, and R&D/manufacturing alliances with various organizations.

Among the company's long-term R&D partners are Taiwan's National Chung Cheng University and MIRDC. The company has formed a marketing venture with 10 local hardware manufacturers to promote their products under the common brand "ARK." It has also contracted manufacturing capacity in Southeast Asia, mainland China, and other low-cost areas.

Another important selling point for the firm is its full range of products, including items for military, fishing, industrial, and farming applications. The maximum tow force of the company's ropes is eight metric tons.

Portable Hand-Operated Puller

Recently, the company introduced a user-friendly portable hand puller, called the HP-101P. The tool weighs only 3.7 kilograms and can be folded into a plastic case for easy portability.

The puller's handlebar also doubles as a removable flashlight. The unit's steel rope is 10 feet long and five millimeters wide, and has a maximum pulling force of one metric ton. The body of the puller is about 30 centimeters long measured from the top of the front hook to the end of the handlebar, much shorter than the average 80cm. This smaller size allows the tool to be stored under the seat of a car.

The handle of the durable unit is made of metal 3.5 mm thick, the body of metal 3 mm thick. Its gear and pawl are also built with solid steel. The puller is ideal for hauling cars and yachts, and also serves effectively as fencing line and truck-cargo tightener.

Like many of Jun Kaung's products, the HP-101P is the product of the company's strategy of differentiating itself from low-level suppliers in mainland China. Hsieh says that mainland Chinese manufacturers have replaced Taiwanese suppliers in the low-end market, forcing the latter to introduce unique items of higher quality targeted at the high-performance market.

Despite its consistent product innovation, Jun Kaung's annual growth rate has slowed to an average of 10% in the past few years. Hsieh attributes the slowdown mostly to market saturation and pricier steel, which have raised costs and thus end prices and in the end dampened demand.

Nonetheless, Hsieh is an iron-willed businessman unbowed by market challenges. As one example of his unremitting resolve to always go forward, his company recently joined a strategic alliance with local hardware suppliers to develop digital force-measurement meters for their tools in order to make their products more attractive.