01.01.03
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Sales: $55 Million
Description: Key Personnel
J.C. Tai, president and owner; Dr. Kirk Hwang, vice president corporate planning and international operations; George Wong, hygiene business director; Herman Tai, industrial specialties business director; Alvin Hu, technical vice president
Plants
Taipei, Taiwan; Shanghai, China
ISO Status
ISO 9001 certified
Processes
Air through bonded, thermal bonded, meltblown, airlaid, needlepunched
Brand Names
Carnation brand used for hygiene; Co-Fiber for industrial specialty products
Major Markets
Hygiene, industrial, agriculture, geotextiles
As part of its efforts to withstand pricing pressures and other problems facing the nonwovens industry, KNH Enterprises, Taipei, Taiwan, has been lessening its reliance on commodity-oriented businesses and increasing its presence in specialty areas. This strategy is starting to pay off and executives hope sales increases outpace current levels in the near futures. Sales reportedly rose about 5% for the company last year.
A commitment to innovation and technology has led to opportunity within several subsegments of filtration including air, liquid and environmental conscious practices, where KNH primarily provides meltblown materials. Healthy demand exists in these areas of KNH’s core Asian and Australian markets.
KNH’s meltblown business also received a temporary boost from the Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak that overtook parts of Asia earlier this year. Now that SARS panic has more or less subsided, demand for the masks has dropped, but not to the same levels as before the disease became known, according to executives.
KNH was able to meet this demand without boosting its meltblown output, which now stands at about 50 tons per month. Instead the company combined meltblown with other nonwovens technology, including internally produced air through bonded nonwovens and externally purchased spunbonded materials, to bulk up its inventory.
Turning toward the hygiene market, KNH has been trying to withstand pricing pressures by decreasing the weight of its carded nonwovens. Basically, the company has engineered its materials to provide the same sponginess at 25 gsm weights as it did at 30 gsm. This trend is also ongoing in the airlaid market, another market in which KNH participates that has been characterized by pricing pressures in recent years. The company has been fine tuning its two-in-one airlaid product, sold in the feminine hygiene market under the Carnation brand, to increase performance while decreasing basis weights. Executives feel that this practice will continue as prices trend even lower in upcoming years.
Meanwhile, KNH’s other core markets agriculture and geotextiles have remained flat. Highlights in these businesses include a sun/moisture control web for agricultural applications in Japan as well as increased funding of civil engineering projects within Asia. “We have continued to collect data on sun and moisture management,” Mr. Tai explained. “We need to get the data on the full range of produce grown in these areas and how the product would affect this produce before we make the push into new areas.”
Niche markets also continue to be a strong interest for KNH. Among these is composites where the company has developed a PTFE-based nonwoven for protective apparel applications. So far, entry into this market has been positive, boosted by concerns related to SARS. Other markets gaining in importance for KNH is heavy-duty drainage products, wastewater treatment applications and antistatic cleaning cloths.
On the converting side of the business, KNH has taken advantage of lower interest rates by upgrading its facilities in Tainan Taipei, Taiwan and Shanghai, China. While lines have not been added, KNH has improved efficiencies to enhance its cost structure. One area where the company has expanded, however, is in its lamination business. The company has integrated nonwovens and film production into one line to make breathable materials for medical and protective apparel applications. This line is currently operating in Taiwan but executives expect it will someday shift to Shanghai.
As Taiwan’s largest roll goods producer, KNH has been content to target its domestic and neighboring markets and has not paid much attention to North America and Europe. Executives realize that this could change, however, as global trends align themselves in all parts of the world. As this globalization continues, KNH will rely on foreign partners and technological know-how to provide its business with true global scope.
Sales: $55 Million
Description: Key Personnel
J.C. Tai, president and owner; Dr. Kirk Hwang, vice president corporate planning and international operations; George Wong, hygiene business director; Herman Tai, industrial specialties business director; Alvin Hu, technical vice president
Plants
Taipei, Taiwan; Shanghai, China
ISO Status
ISO 9001 certified
Processes
Air through bonded, thermal bonded, meltblown, airlaid, needlepunched
Brand Names
Carnation brand used for hygiene; Co-Fiber for industrial specialty products
Major Markets
Hygiene, industrial, agriculture, geotextiles
As part of its efforts to withstand pricing pressures and other problems facing the nonwovens industry, KNH Enterprises, Taipei, Taiwan, has been lessening its reliance on commodity-oriented businesses and increasing its presence in specialty areas. This strategy is starting to pay off and executives hope sales increases outpace current levels in the near futures. Sales reportedly rose about 5% for the company last year.
A commitment to innovation and technology has led to opportunity within several subsegments of filtration including air, liquid and environmental conscious practices, where KNH primarily provides meltblown materials. Healthy demand exists in these areas of KNH’s core Asian and Australian markets.
KNH’s meltblown business also received a temporary boost from the Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak that overtook parts of Asia earlier this year. Now that SARS panic has more or less subsided, demand for the masks has dropped, but not to the same levels as before the disease became known, according to executives.
KNH was able to meet this demand without boosting its meltblown output, which now stands at about 50 tons per month. Instead the company combined meltblown with other nonwovens technology, including internally produced air through bonded nonwovens and externally purchased spunbonded materials, to bulk up its inventory.
Turning toward the hygiene market, KNH has been trying to withstand pricing pressures by decreasing the weight of its carded nonwovens. Basically, the company has engineered its materials to provide the same sponginess at 25 gsm weights as it did at 30 gsm. This trend is also ongoing in the airlaid market, another market in which KNH participates that has been characterized by pricing pressures in recent years. The company has been fine tuning its two-in-one airlaid product, sold in the feminine hygiene market under the Carnation brand, to increase performance while decreasing basis weights. Executives feel that this practice will continue as prices trend even lower in upcoming years.
Meanwhile, KNH’s other core markets agriculture and geotextiles have remained flat. Highlights in these businesses include a sun/moisture control web for agricultural applications in Japan as well as increased funding of civil engineering projects within Asia. “We have continued to collect data on sun and moisture management,” Mr. Tai explained. “We need to get the data on the full range of produce grown in these areas and how the product would affect this produce before we make the push into new areas.”
Niche markets also continue to be a strong interest for KNH. Among these is composites where the company has developed a PTFE-based nonwoven for protective apparel applications. So far, entry into this market has been positive, boosted by concerns related to SARS. Other markets gaining in importance for KNH is heavy-duty drainage products, wastewater treatment applications and antistatic cleaning cloths.
On the converting side of the business, KNH has taken advantage of lower interest rates by upgrading its facilities in Tainan Taipei, Taiwan and Shanghai, China. While lines have not been added, KNH has improved efficiencies to enhance its cost structure. One area where the company has expanded, however, is in its lamination business. The company has integrated nonwovens and film production into one line to make breathable materials for medical and protective apparel applications. This line is currently operating in Taiwan but executives expect it will someday shift to Shanghai.
As Taiwan’s largest roll goods producer, KNH has been content to target its domestic and neighboring markets and has not paid much attention to North America and Europe. Executives realize that this could change, however, as global trends align themselves in all parts of the world. As this globalization continues, KNH will rely on foreign partners and technological know-how to provide its business with true global scope.