By Daniel Foong
Twenty-eight
years ago Wan Ad Toys Co., Ltd was founded to manufacture toys for export. Due
to the contraction of the market, resulting from growing competition at home
and abroad, the company diversified into the giftware sector three years ago.
In an attempt to cut down costs, the company moved its production offshore to mainland China more than 10 years ago. The manufacturing base in Dongguan, southern China, employs more than 300 people, of which eight specialists are managing the R&D department.
Some 90 percent of its output is exported, and only 10 percent is sold to the Taiwan market, according to the vice president. Yu said the U.S. and Japan are the major destinations for Wan Da toys and giftware, accounting for 35 percent and 25 percent respectively.
While Europe takes 20 percent of its total shipment, the vice president added, shipments to Latin America and Southeast Asia account for 10 percent and five percent respectively.
Better quality
Gary
Yu said the prices of toys and giftware supplied by Wan Da Toys are slightly
higher than those offered by mainland China. "But our quality is better,"
he added. Yu said his company does not make low-priced items.
The vice president said export performance in the first half of this year remained at the same level as the corresponding period a year earlier. "However, for the whole of 2003, we expect to see a marginal increase in our exports," he stated.
About ten years ago, when Wan Da Toys Enterprise Co., Ltd. established a factory in Dongguan, Guangdong province, southern China, producing musical toys for infants and children, but items incorporating ICs were made in Taiwan because the quality is more reliable.
"Those IC-operated toys helped us bring in more revenues through exports," said the vice president. He added that the 'try-me box packaging' had been well received by consumers the world over. "These toys won over a great many major customers from Europe, the U.S. and Japan," Gary Yu stated.
Diversification
Five
years ago, more and more factories for the production of toys were set up, triggering
tougher competition and resulting in reduced profitability. "In view of
this, we decided to add giftware to our product line," the vice president
noted.
Yu said his company obtains design ideas by participating in major international toy and giftware shows and from browsing the Internet. "Sometimes, our customers provide us with ideas. Design ideas come from various sources, and we combine them with ours," said the vice president, who added that the colors of Wan Da giftware and toys follow the trends in the U.S., Japan and Europe.
Three years ago the company introduced a glass pole incorporating water and fake fish. "These new products helped bring in big orders and demand was so strong that there were occasions when we failed to deliver on time," stressed the vice president.
Early this year, the company introduced mini fish boxes incorporating 'Nemo fish'. "These mini fish boxes, with lower prices, have generated brisk sales around the world, and we are very happy with the sales performance," Yu said.
The vice president said
as his company has a strong design team, refraining from following the footsteps
of popular toys or giftware offered by its counterparts. "We want to create
our own product line," he added.