Thai films processor uses unique production strategy to serve diverse markets

A mix of cutting-edge ultra-clean film extrusion for sealant film and heavy duty bags coupled with production of commodity packaging on flexible home-grown manufacturing equipment is the perfect combination for this Thai processor.

Picture this. One wing of Unique Plastics' (Samutprakarn, Thailand) production facility houses six multi-layer blown film lines for manufacturing LLDPE heavy duty bags and sealant film under a strictly controlled "white room" environment where personnel are required to don cleanroom attire and negotiate two air locks to gain access to machinery. A second zone at the plant on the outskirts of Bangkok houses 55 tubular water quenched PP lines plus 36 six- and 12-inch mini HDPE blown film line made in Thailand and churning out plastic bags.

Clean environment equals clear profits at Unique.

Managing Director Nithat Nawachartkosit explains the rationale of its clean production strategy using high output lines thus: "Converters prefer to purchase sealant film and the more we produce, the better the terms for our raw material purchases. It pays to be big," he notes. "We also serve some of the major resin producers for their pellet packaging needs with our 25-kg heavy-duty bags and be it food packaging sealant film or industrial packaging, there are benefits in minimizing contamination from human hair, insects, and what-have-you." Unique's clean production environment that conforms to GMP is a key marketing tool that is especially appreciated by its increasing number of Japanese customers. "Our Japanese customers are demanding in more ways than one," says Nithat. "Every year they ask us to downgauge but I think we are fast approaching the limit of what's achievable."

Resin is supplied to these blown film lines from outside of the controlled extrusion zone, and rolls of film are transferred out of this production zone on stainless steel-covered pallets. Unique also maintains a dedicated laboratory adjacent to the production floor that enable QC to be carried out "almost in real time," according to Nithat, for parameters such as gloss, haze, heat seal, tear strength and coefficient of friction. Highlighting the importance of this capability, "For some specialty products that we make like operating theater cover film, we need to ensure the right balance of low gloss and high transparency," says Nithat. "You want to see the blood but you don't want to be blinded by reflected light."

The QC lab alone represents an accumulative $1.6 million investment for Unique. Its high level of investment in blown film lines is also evident, with lines from Hosokawa Alpine (Augsburg, Germany) and Windmöller & Hölscher (Lengerich, Germany) in operation.

Unique's sealant film business has grown by leaps and bounds over the past eight years from 80 tonnes processed per month to the current level of 1200 tonnes monthly (including heavy duty bags). "The fastest growth is in sealant film and we see Vietnam as a fast-growth market. It would be a logical next step to set up an operation there," says Nithat, "but there are challenges associated with the banking system and lack of local resin supply."

Turning to the "commodity" side of its business, Unique opts for what might be viewed as a labor-intensive means of manufacturing PP and HDPE bags but this brings about a high degree of flexibility and responsiveness to its operations. "Overall, our approach is still more cost-effective than investing in massive silos and high-output blown films lines and it allows us to turn out multiple bag sizes in different printing designs," says Nithat. The company's smaller blown film lines for producing HDPE bags have daily capacities of 450 kg.

Nithat does concede that labor is increasingly harder to source in Thailand, especially given the strong auto industry with its high demand for workers. Nevertheless, he believes the current approach still makes sense up to a labor cost of $450/month.

Unique's total extrusion capacity stands at 2800 tonnes monthly and the intent is to expand this to 4000 tonnes monthly by 2015. Part of this growth will be derived via an in-house innovation. "We identified a need in Japan for anti-microbial waste bags for use in Japanese hospitals and plan to debut a product incorporating a silver-based antimicrobial additive shortly. Unique hopes this new product will be worth its weight in gold.

Clean environment equals clear profits at Unique