Hakuzo Medical Asia Co. Ltd.

Hakuzo Medical Asia Co. Ltd.

Building essential partnerships and a new factory for medical supplies

Established in 1953 in Osaka, Japan, Hakuzo Medical is a manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies and hygiene products. Initially producing gauzes and bandages for medical treatment, their business has expanded to include a wide range of products from combating infectious diseases to caregiver supplies.

After establishing a local representative office in Singapore and identifying market trends, Thailand was determined as the best location for their production base, outlined Managing Director Mr. Koichiro Sasaki. "It sits in the center of ASEAN and in terms of raw materials, it's possible to source 70–80% of all materials we use domestically in Thailand at this moment." The local Thai office was established in 2017 and its full Thai subsidiary in 2019.

The Thai factory will be the first overseas production base for Hakuzo, with plans to produce adhesive plasters, disinfectants, dialysis kits, sheets for brain surgery, and other products for health care agencies such as hospitals. At the same time, diseases caused by changing lifestyle habits are projected to increase, and local production which enables low-cost manufacturing will successfully meet these growing needs.

"In view of rising health concerns and coronavirus, people's awareness of public health in Asian countries including Thailand will be improving."

After visiting around 10 industrial estates and lands in Thailand, the company chose WHA Chonburi Industrial Estate 2 (WHA CIE 2) to begin constructing their factory. Using 3 rai of their total land area of 9 rai (approx. 4,800 sq.m. of a total 14,400 sq.m.), the first phase of building has only just begun. Mr. Sasaki said that it has been a smooth implementation, as the site is part of an industrial estate certified by IEAT (Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand) and no further applications for approval were necessary from the Thai Board of Investment (BOI). 　

"The WHA staff are knowledgeable, friendly and experienced," said Mr. Sasaki, "and they provide us with sound advice. They know well what kind of problems their customers experience." He noted the factory's location only 90 minutes' drive from Bangkok, along with many experienced workers in the Chonburi area, were additional advantages.

"We'll aim to start operations in 2021 with 10–20 employees at first," Mr. Sasaki said, "and our goal is to switch totally to local procurement in the future. Much of the product shipment will be for the Thai domestic market for some time to come, but we intend to expand export gradually to Japan, ASEAN and Taiwan."

Contact information
Mr. Koichiro Sasaki
Managing Director
www.hakuzoasia.com/

Remarks: The article was written for WHA Group Newsletter October 2020 Vol. 48