‘Responsive and professional’ is how leading Taiwanese manufacturer Kung Hsing (KS) described the working partnership it has developed with Danish company Vetaphone.
The two first began working together in 2011, when KS decided it needed a better surface treatment supplier for its range of extrusion technology than it was able to source in Asia. Speaking for KS, Stephanie Shea commented: “Our customers have very high expectations of quality and very little tolerance of inconsistency as they seek to add value to their packaging. We found we were unable to guarantee quality with locally sourced corona systems and it was becoming a major problem.”
The change came with a meeting of minds between KS and Vetaphone and the synergy between two family-owned and operated businesses. As the inventor of corona treatment back in the 1950s, Denmark based Vetaphone is managed by Frank and Jan Eisby, sons of the founder Verner, whose expertise in electronics pioneered surface treatment of plastic substrates. On the KS side, Chin-Lien Tsai, who founded Kung Hsing back in 1972, remains in charge as President and now presides over an organisation that spans the globe with sales and service representation on every continent. What both companies bring to the market is a depth of knowledge and a commitment to customer support that goes far beyond machine installation.
KS has three factories. The first is mainly for manufacturing parts and assembly, while the second and third are for testing, assembling and shipping. With a skilled staff of more than 90, the company uses the latest 3D software to design high-accuracy parts, working on the principle that using the best quality components will provide sustained high-performance machines. So too with ancillary equipment suppliers. Quality in equals quality out, and with a loyal customer base that trusts KS technology, it knows it must work with sub-suppliers that it too can trust. Stephanie Shea added: “Our customers expect us to solve their problems. If we do, they come back for more. That’s why we like working with Vetaphone – they understand our philosophy and always respond when we need them to. This is vital for repeat business.”
KS manufactures six different extrusion lines for blown film, from the top of the range Multi-Layer Co-Extrusion High Speed model, capable of up to nine-layer co-extrusion and multi-layer HDPE ABA and ABC, to the Economical E-Type HDPE/LDPE High Speed line, and a Polypropylene High-Speed line. There are also Monofilament machines making Nylon, PET and PP/PE, and a range of plastic re-cycling machines. The expertise offered in all of these sectors, coupled with ISO 9002 and CE accreditation, has led to KS machines being sold to more than 120 countries worldwide. Quality control is at the heart of the company’s business, with each machine being fully test run prior to shipping.
Speaking for Vetaphone, Finn Hinze, Sales Manager for Asia said: “Accurate and consistent corona treatment is essential in the extrusion process but too few companies seem to realise this. Because it’s a small unit and an ancillary process, the performance of the corona treater is too often under-valued. Vetaphone units offer the control needed for consistent quality, without which there can be a high level of wastage, and nobody can afford waste these days!”
As the market becomes ever more quality conscious, KS knows that bottom line price can no longer be the main criterion for making an investment. As Stephanie Shea concluded: “We need to educate the market to total cost of ownership. In the case of Vetaphone, we know that our customers will only ever need to buy one unit for the working lifetime of their KS machine. Cheaper alternatives will need replacing on a regular basis. Instead of costing customers less, they end spending much more – it’s all about encouraging the market to think longer term for quality.”
Photo shows (from left to right): Stephanie Shea (KS), Finn Hinze (Vetaphone), Chin-Lien Tsai (Founder & President of KS), Tom Chen (Vetaphone), and Carol Liang (Vetaphone agent)