Stapler maker anxious to be top supplier in the world
By Daniel Foong
Founded 50 years ago in Changhua, central Taiwan, SDI Corporation is today Taiwanˇ¦s biggest manufacturer of staplers. The company is aggressively aiming at becoming No.1 in the world in 2004 in terms of stapler production value.
Of the overseas shipment made, 40 percent bears the SDI brand, and 60 percent are OEM orders. Japan is the biggest destination for staplers made by SDI Corporation, taking 30 percent of its total exports, followed by the U.S. at 20 percent. Shipments to Europe and Asia comprise 30 to 35 percent of its exports, with 15 percent sold to the Taiwan market.
The R&D department of the company is composed of over 100 specialists, including designers and tooling developers. In order to get closer to the Japanese market, SDI Corporation set up a branch office in Osaka two years ago.
Strategic Alliances
Strategic alliances have become an objective of SDI Corporation, aimed at entering into partnership with top manufacturers in the similar field around the globe. In a joint venture with a Japanese firm, SDI Corporation has set up a company in Shanghai for the purchase of stationery and related products.
For a year or so, the company has been negotiating with a major U.S. stapler importer who is mulling OEM orders for SDI Corporation. The vice president also expressed optimism in rapid business expansion in the European market next year. A warehouse was established in the Netherlands in 1989 by SDI Corporation.
Taking advantage of the
abundant supply of human resources in mainland China, SDI Corporation opened
a factory in Suzhou province on eastern China in 1998 with an investment capital
of US$30 million. Chen said he expects to see 80 percent growth this year in
mainland China in the sales of staplers.