Raffia Business Runs Fast and Strong
For the HMC Connect 2Q edition we interviewed Khun Thawatchai Yongskulrote, Managing Director of Agripac Manufacturing, a leading manufacturer and marketer in Thailand of a broad range of raffia bags, primarily for agricultural products such as rice and sugar.
Established in 1983, Agripac is located in Bangpoo Industrial Estate, 1.5 hours from central Bangkok.
As Khun Thawatchai explained: “To be a market leader in the highly competitive business of polypropylene raffia production in Thailand requires a highly efficient plant operation combined with the right material properties at the right price. To maximize throughput and maintain profitability on relatively thin margins means all parts of the business must run at optimal efficiency.”
Interview
“I started Agripac in 1983. Before founding and running my own business, I worked as a project engineer in several industries and leveraged that experience to set up my own business”, said Khun Thawatchai.
“When we started the business, Agripac produced a diverse range of raffia bag sizes for agricultural products. However now, Agripac is focusing on raffia bags for rice of 50 kg capacity. Ninety percent of this rice is exported internationally. Consequently, the bags must perform at the highest possible level due to the logistical demands.”
Earlier this year, Agripac installed its new latest generation production machine from Lohia Corp. Limited of India, which is a leader in machinery for the Plastic Woven Fabric Industry. Agripac worked closely with HMC to assist the development of a new grade, PP HOMO Moplen HP500L which further optimized the production efficiencies of the new machine. HMC's VP Business Management & Supply Chains, Khun Pornchai Pichitwutikorn said: "The collaborative relationship with our valued customer Agripac, has helped to keep their production values at the leading edge."
Agripac reports that Moplen HP500L offers ease of processing at high speeds with excellent end-use properties. In addition to its high production capacity and production of high tensile strength raffia, the Lohia machine can operate an automatic winder which is very useful for the weaving process.
The new system not only runs a double stretching process, but also at the highest capacity of up to 600 meters per minute with the strength of 4.2 grams per denier. The standard market benchmark only requires the strength of >4.0 gram per denier.
“The rice raffia bag business is very competitive. My customer’s primary requirements are fast service, on time delivery and high product tensile strength. The process of loading rice bags into a ship's hold requires a ratio of broken bags to normal condition bags of less than 5 in 10,000. Otherwise, the entire delivery of bags is deemed below standard and rejected by the customer."
"To solve this potential problem, Agripac sets up and monitors its own tensile strength capability as an integral part of the production process. We rigorously examine and test our products throughout the entire process to ensure that our raffia bags will arrive safely to end consumers under often challenging conditions."
"Agripac is seeing increasing competition in the raffia bag market from Indonesia and The Philippines. But with a lower overall quality of bags and non-standard bag sizes, the imports have not made significant inroads into Agripac's market share so far. Nevertheless, the production of raffia bags is a cost-driven business and the company is constantly seeking product improvements and service benefits to our customers." Khun Thawatchai considers product quality and latest production efficiency as the best response in a dynamic market.
“We know the business of raffia bag manufacturing can still be very successful in Thailand. Agripac remains unwavering with our policies to guarantee customer satisfaction including outstanding service and competitive pricing. This continues to make us a strong presence in today’s raffia bag market.”