King Pac Industrial Co.,Ltd.

Young Businessman – All around plastic

Business Competition is becoming more intense these days in term of expansion, marketing strategies for differentiation, and management tactics. A key to the competitiveness of most successful business organizations is conveyance of knowledge, experience, and business management concepts from senior executives to new generation executives. If the conveyance is clear and consistent, it will certainly help fulfill the organization goals, thus leading to the ultimate success.

One of the organizations that are praiseworthy for the transfers of long experiences from senior executives to new generation executives, and for theperfect combination of rich industry experiences and modern business management concepts is King Pac Industrial Company Limited (KPI). A producer and marketer of all kinds of plastic bags, King Pac is recognized as one of the largest plastic bag producers in Asia. Mr. Paiboon Julasaksrisakul is a modern, hard-working young businessman, a successor of Mr. Seri Julasaksrisakul, his father and the founder of King Pac. At present, Mr. Paiboon is the major force driving King Pac forward to compete in the global plastic bag market.

Recalling the beginning of King Pac and the path of its growth, Mr. Paiboon said: "My father (Mr. Seri Julasaksrisakul) started the business with the production of plastic bags over 30 years ago. It began with the production of zip bags in 1976 under the company named IQ Plastic Co., Ltd., which was later renamed Siam Zip 1992 Co., Ltd. After becoming joint venture with German and Malaysian partners, the company was renamed again to Zip Pac Co., Ltd. and focused on the production of bags for export to Europe. In 1996, he expanded the business and established King Pac Industrial Co., Ltd. to produce all kinds of plastic bags for export-oriented plastic bag producer with the largest production base in Asia. During the first stage of his career, Mr. Paiboon was assigned by his father to take charge of cost-reduction production control and the capacity improvement of machinery at the factories of King Bag Co., Ltd. ,which manufactured and marketed products for domestic market, and King Pac Industrial Co., Ltd. He took up the job, and proved to work with determination and visions for over a year. Then, his family entrusted him with business management and appointed him to the position of the Assistant Managing Director of King Pac Industrial Co., Ltd."I started to run King Pac by controlling the production lines of the factories to cut costs and improve the productivity of the machinery, while ensuring that the production process was environmentally friendly. After learning the production job for a while, I moved to take charge of sales and business development until now."

Taking full management responsibilities, Mr. Paiboon prioritizes the improvement of marketing strategies, and the expansion of business alliance to enter into new markets in more countries. These are the obvious changes that have happened since he took over the management from his father. Previously, the company had business allies only in the United States, Europe and Japan. Today, the alliance of King Pac Industrial Co., Ltd. expands to over 10 more nations worldwide, built on its old customer base that covered some 38 countries around the world. "Previously, management of marketing and business allies used to be unaggressive. The present economic recession, however, has triggered the change to proactive marketing management to approach more customers and business partners. In other words, market and customer research must be conducted on customer needs, behavior, and satisfaction in order to improve, correct and develop products that exactly meet their needs." "Implementation of proactive marketing to expand business alliance network overseas has driven us to meet more customers, who are the end users of our products. We have listened to their needs so that we can develop new products that best serve their needs. We have also invested in the research and development of machinery and products. For example, we have added draw tapes to our garbage bags for users' convenience. We have also developed Zip Locks under the King Pac brand, which feature unique Double Zips that boost users' confidence in sealing. Besides, we have changed the packaging of those Zip Locks from a conventional box to a more handy bag" Mr. Paiboon said. Another challenge for Mr. Paiboon is, inevitably, how to ensure his business' survival in light of the current economic crisis, which has impacted almost all businesses. As an export-oriented manufacturer, King Pac is among the high-risk business sectors most vulnerable to the shrinking market demand. Mr. Paiboon said: "It is true that the target markets of King Pac are the United States, Europe and Japan, the epicenter of this economic crisis. But, fortunately, we have been affected only slightly because the long, and rich, experiences in business management of plastic bag markets were conveyed from my father and with these lessons, we can come up with contingency plans to effectively cope with the possible impacts of the economic crisis. Actually, I take this moment as a good opportunity for us to intensify our proactive marketing attempts. We can go out to visit and learn more about customers' needs, and to develop relationships with more traders overseas."

Regarding the impacts of the present economic crisis on the plastic bag business, Mr. Paiboon said: "There are increasing demands for products in many categories despite the current economic situation. Among them are shopping bags, or T-shirt bags. During economic hardships, more people buy food to cook at home, so they need more shopping and garbage bags. Sandwich bags are also more popular in overseas markets because they are used to take food from home to offices or schools. So I do not think the plastic bag business will be significantly affected by the economic crisis. On the contrary, it should buck the economic trend." In terms of the key success factors of King Pac, Mr. Paiboon shared his secrets with us: "Since my company focuses on quality and services, I take research and development, and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) very seriously. In other words, we must first know the customers. We must get to know them in all aspects, including their ages, characteristics, preferences and ideas. Moreover, we must be a good listener when the customers give advice on our products and services. This enables us to adjust to each customer and serve him right. "Another key to the success of King Pac is the consistency and clarity of management concept an direction that were transferred from my father. Between my father and me, there is no generation gap when it comes to ideas and methods about work. We have never had a dispute on work. This is possibly because my father is a modern executive, who is quite open to children's opinion. He lets us fully have our say and takes part in deciding on issues. If our decisions are inappropriate, he corrects us constructively. And we must listen to him as well because I think that we are still new in managerial jobs, and have yet to gain experiences. The knowledge we obtained from school cannot always be applied in the real world. Listening to him, contemplating his advice and applying it in my own way, I have learned the secrets of work which are unavailable elsewhere." Finally, Mr. Paiboon revealed that the top secret of King Pac's success was the devotion, determination and perseverance of over 2,000 staff members who joined forces to consistently improve the quality of products and services of the company, the result of his own personnel management style. "My father and I realize the importance of all staff members of the company. My personnel management principle is simple. I think of all my employees as my family. We are brothers, sisters, and friends, who can listen to one another's opinions and criticisms, which are useful for our work. Being a new executive, I always respect and listen to the advice of those who have been here longer than I have. I do believe that all my staff members are ready to support me and work for the prosperity of the business as they have been doing all along." Regarding the sharp management ideas, and the great vision of Mr. Paiboon, it can be stated that he is a modern executive well worth watching. He is following the path of his father who is a successful executive. With lessons from his father, along with his own determination, he will able to lead King Pac Industrial Co., Ltd. to its glorious success in the global plastic bag arena in the near future.