Fastener World: Interview -How does Chang Yi Bolt maintain its competitive advantages in the future?
Chang Yi Bolt Co.,Ltd is found in 1987. We have developed in construction components for more than 25 years. Our main products include various types of screws, fasteners, bolts and nuts. All of our products are manufactured under international standards. We have had awarded ISO-9001:2008, CE 14566, and CE 14592.
Established in 1987, Fastener World is the leading publisher, who focuses on fastener business. Fastener World (FW) is also one of the magazines we publish, along with China Fastener World, Hardware World & Building Materials, and Industrial Components & Auto Parts. (Quote from Fastener World Magazine)
Established in 1987, Fastener World is the leading publisher, who focuses on fastener business. Fastener World (FW) is also one of the magazines we publish, along with China Fastener World, Hardware World & Building Materials, and Industrial Components & Auto Parts. (Quote from Fastener World Magazine)
(Fastener World reporters are interviewing Chang Yi Bolt's employee)
Article Written and Edited by Wilson Chen
When does Chang Yi Bolt start fastener manufacturing? Can You simply introduce how can your products be used in construction field? What size , material, and advantages does Chang Yi Bolt have?
Chang Yi Bolt Co., Ltd. was found in 1987. We have over 25 years experiences in fastener manufacturing industry. Chang Yi Bolt produces various types of screw, bolt, nut and other fastener.
Chang Yi Bolt was mainly manufacturing different types of wooden screw back in 90s. After few years R&D, Chang Yi Bolt set both bolt production line and screw production line and now we are able to produce most type of construction fasteners. The series of screws include self-tapping screw, drywall screw, self-drilling screw, chipboard screw, and machine screw. We also can produce bolts, including all the hexagon head bolts, carriage bolts, furniture screw, hexagon flange bolt and concrete/masonry anchor bolt.
As mentioned above, we have a variety of products. Therefore, we can use diversified materials to produce different screws based on the demands and standards. Such as carbon steels (1006-1040, contained % level carbon in the steels) or stainless or even brass.
Chang Yi Bolt is able to do customized products (special/non-standard products). This customized service is one of our advantages. Although multiple production line is quite annoying and complicated for manufacturer, acknowledging distinct products is really costly for every steps of production line. To compare with manufacturer who has single type of product, multi-production line system increases a lot of R&D and HR costs. We did face many difficulties when we had single to multiple transaction. However, the founder and general manager of Chang Yi Bolt holds organization philosophy of Chang Yi Bolt,『Thank about it, and you can make it.』, and aims to satisfy customers’ demands and solve customers’ problems, we come across from single type manufacturer to a multi-fastener manufacturer company. Today, we are a fastener manufacturer that has had produced more than 5000 types of fasteners.
Can you simply introduce software and hardware of your company (covered area, staff, equipment, award/certificate and so on)? What is the most important part of construction fastener?
Area: 4000 m²
Location: No. 99, Pen-Chou Road, GangShan District, Kaohsiung City, 820 Taiwan, R.O.C.
Staff: Production Crew: 47 , Research & Development Team: 3, Quality Control Team: 5,Other: 20
Award/Certificates: ISO 9002、CE 14566(EN 14566)、CE 14592(EN 14592)
Equipment: Heading Machine, Thread Rolling Machine, Auto-Packing Machine, Hardness Tester, Tensile Tester, Torque Tester, High Precise test equipment
Production Lines: Bolt heading and thread rolling production line, Screw heading and thread rolling production line, Product packing line
About our equipment, besides production equipment like heading and thread rolling machines, we take quality control system as an extremely serious facility. We have all the types of quality control testers. In order to reach the credit points of customers, our quality control team would do first examination of semi-finished products when they just come out from machines. When semi-finished products pass the test, they will be delivery to our surface treatment co-companies (heat treatment or electroplating treatment). When these products done their surface treatment and coming back to Chang Yi, our co-companies have to provide test reports for the specific products. Before passing these products to packing section, quality control team has to re-examine these products and make sure the products are all fitted the standards. All the steps of our production processes are ensuring that our products are SAFE. Safety is imperative. We don’t have any ambiguous room when it comes to safety. No one wants to live in somewhere constructed with unqualified fasteners. It’s just like “Think about it, and you can make it.”, we consider all the products we made are going to build our own houses. That’s Chang Yi Bolt, C.YB. Concrete Your Believes.
What is your main market? What is different among in different markets? What should be careful? How do you deal with China and far east countries’ price war? What are your advantages in this battle?
The main markets of Chang Yi Bolt include Europe, North America, and Australia. Every market has its own special mode of doing business. For example, Japanese has relatively complicated procedures and demands to other customers. Not only the products but the factory, Japanese has really strict standard for both of products and factory. Nevertheless, once they approve your products and factory, they wouldn't seek other suppliers without good reasons. About Europe market, the most special point is their diversity of products. European has a variety type and name of fasteners. If you are not familiar with Europe market, you will be confused even you have worked in this industry for years.
The biggest market of Chang Yi bolt is Europe market. We have worked on Europe market for years. Therefore, we are quite familiar with their diversities of product and cultural behaviors. General speaking, Taiwanese fastener manufacturers still have competitive advantages in Europe market. Due to the anti-dumping duty, Europe market charges a high level of import tax for Chinese manufacturers. Somehow the policy compels European importers to seek Taiwanese suppliers. Other competitors like Vietnam or Thailand have immature supply chain and lack of management system to dominate Europe market in short-tern. Therefore, Chang Yi Bolt will keep working on Europe market in middle-tern.
The European’s diversities of product do create niche market for Taiwanese middle scale manufacturers. The most obvious one is the customized market. In Europe market, you can see a lot of products with weird shape or name that you never heard of. Massive size companies would not engage into this type of business because the quantities of product are the way too small. Customised market could increase a lot of cost for big companies. The marginal revenue will not meet these companies’ expectations.
About the price war, we could hold optimistic prospect. So far, European still adopts anti-dumping policies against Chinese’s business dumping. Go-Green concept and anit-sweat-shop are now arisen around the world. These also cause countries in east-south Asia like Vietnam and Thailand to increase their production costs. In short-run, these countries can keep their advantage going on, but these slight upper-hands will decline soon, Chang Yi Bolt’s strategies against price war are quality-guarantee, customized-product design and customized services. All the designs, standards and cover-treatments are optional and based on customers’ demands. Not only the products but also the services are customized. For each customer, we assign dedicated staff responsible for all the duties and cases of the customer. All we wanted is to ensure customers’ demands are satisfied.
To compare with automobile fasteners, construction fasteners supply chain concern more about customized market. How can you sustain your R&D power? During the R&D process, what’s your biggest advantage? Any feedback from Customers?
We take customized market as our main market and it is incredibly serious. Our colleagues and crew are quite used to face unfamiliar products and designs. We will not be freaked out or confused by any strange graphs or designs. The biggest strength of Chang Yi Bolt is that we have our standard operation processes (SOP) to create a new product. We endow a unique identity to every single product. R&D crew can compare and contrast passed and latest designs to overcome design difficulties. The communication between customers and us also make us progress. In the end, our products can always fulfill customers’ demands.
Do you have any new strategy to maintain your competitive advantages and conquer the coming challenges?
Chang Yi Bolt has planned a few different ways to improve our strength. The first one is that we invent 10 set of production machines (both heading and thread rolling machines) in 2014 to improve our production capacity and quality. Also, we put a lot of effort to find and train new R&D crew. At the meantime, we upgrade 2 auto-packing machines to speed out our delivery processes and ensure our customers can receive their order ON-TIME. Secondly, we aggressively approach to get quality and management award/certificates. Besides ISO 9002, we are awarded construction CE certificates as well. Recently, Europe market asks all the imported construction fasteners to have CE mark. To prevent some despicable manufacturers provide inferior products but stick CE mark, in 2014 Europe market passes a policy that all the products with CE mark should be passed random examination at any time, if the examined products failed the test, the products no longer stand in the market. With a decent CE certificates, we can relieve customers’ doubts and improve our customers’ market share in the market. The third strategy is internet marketing. 21st century is century of internet. In the past, traditional industry like fastener manufacturing does not focus on area, but it’s our new focus and research area.
The meet coming challenge, we need to improve our abilities and competitive advantages. Meanwhile, we should exploit new market as well. Such as Middle East countries are our new target market now.
How do you see the prospect of high-valued fastener transformation? How do you think about fastener industry in the coming future?
It is a trend of fastener high-valuized. In the past 20 years, Taiwan was called Kingdom of Screw because of products with good quality and reasonable price. However, China and other east-south countries are pursuing and they are pursuing very fast. The standard product manufacturing is moving out to low-cost countries. Therefore, these countries have a huge progress on the production skills. For these reasons, Taiwanese industries have to force themselves to move forward. They need to step toward to high-skilled base and high-valued product design and production. The development of other countries seem to endanger and terrify Taiwanese fastener industry, but it is also an opportunity for Taiwan. It pushes innovation and transformation of Taiwan fastener industry. For illustration, there are several fastener factories transfer to medical good supplier or artificial tooth root manufacturer. Holding high-skilled and high-valued production competence is the key to break out the red ocean hell.