Issue 27

 

 

With more than 25 years’ experience in the jewellery packaging industry, Pro Excel is recognised as one of the top jewellery box exporters in Thailand. Somboon Siripreedabhakdi, executive director of Pro Excel talks about the company’s history and its plans for 2015.

When was Pro Excel founded and what does it specialise in?
The company was formed in 1987 by my father who was then a production manager at one of the packaging companies. It started producing velvet boxes from materials imported from France, which enhanced both the quality and the looks of the products. We wanted to differentiate our products from other manufacturers, who were still utilising cotton for producing velvet boxes. Apart from velvet products, we also manufacture jewellery pouches and wooden jewellery boxes.

Not only do we manufacture products under our own label, we also offer OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) and ODM (Original Design Manufacturing) as per customers’ specifications. Some of our famous brands include Seiko, Rado, Bvlgari and Citizen.

What are your top export markets? 
We first exported to Saudi Arabia and Japan. Currently we export to 47 countries worldwide. Our main export markets at present include Russia, the Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Kazakhstan.

What are the strengths of the Thai jewellery packaging industry?
Thai manufacturers are specialised in what they offer customers. Apart from commitment to fair and honest trading, our products stand out in terms of quality, design and craftsmanship.

What contributes to the success of your business?
At Pro Excel, we believe that business research and development is the key to success. Each year we invest heavily in new machinery and technology, review our business and make sure that we come up with new product designs in order to meet our customers’ requirements. At the present, we have more than 500 product designs.

What are your plans for 2015?
Apart from maintaining our existing customer base, we aim to expand our business in Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. We have started exporting to Cambodia as well and there’s the potential for us to export more into Cambodia. India is also an interesting market.

How do you see the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) affecting your business?
AEC will certainly help us grow our customer base, especially from Indonesia. However, I also believe that it will create a high level of competition. It will be a game changer for both our business and the industry itself as there will be many trading activities, which will increase the number of buyers and business partners.