Trip to Taiwan very worthwhile

I am sitting in the Advanced Dynamics Headquarters and am just about to meet Managing Director Malcolm Little who recently returned from a visit to Taiwan. In June the company officially announced that it had received exclusive UK distribution rights for Taiwanese machinery manufacturer Pack Leader Machinery. In the middle of August Mr Little travelled to Taichung City to visit Pack Leader’s manufacturing base and to sign the agreement between both companies. Good morning, Mr Little, obviously this is a big step for your company. Congratulations. Could you tell us a little bit more about your trip? “Of course; I arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday afternoon feeling surprisingly fresh after an 11 hour flight from Amsterdam Airport. There’s a lot to be said for business class when you’re travelling long-haul. The guys at Pack Leader had given me the afternoon to acclimatise, so our meetings didn’t start until early Wednesday morning. On my arrival at the factory in Taichung City I was greeted by our main business contact Meg Chang along with her colleague Shanni Hsieh. After some preliminary discussions in the morning I was introduced to Sunny Hsieh, director and owner of Pack Leader, in the early afternoon. After confirming some final points of our agreement the contract was signed by Mr Hsieh and me.” Were there any other people present when you signed the exclusivity contract? “It was great to have finally met Meg Chang who has been in contact with Advanced Dynamics since we first met Pack Leader in May 2011. It was she that had prepared the exclusivity agreement, so it was fitting that she was there for the signatures” What are your impressions about the company now that you have finally had the opportunity to visit their Headquarters? “Their factory was very impressive. It was clean, efficient and spacious; it was also very hot for an Englishman not used to the heat and humidity of Taiwan; my jacket and tie did not stay on for long, I can tell you. In addition to numerous machines in-build the showroom had numerous interesting machines that were tested ready for dispatch such as a twin-wrap system that completely eradicates down-time for change-over. I also saw for the first time the SL301 sleeving system and a high specification horizontal PL521 horizontal wraparound machine complete with a label detection and code verification system. Both these systems were of great interest as they will allow Advanced Dynamics to move into 2 completely new markets; a perfect situation during these trying economic times. Would you believe it, I also met the factory cat and the factory dog.” A factory cat? “Yes, I know; A factory cat! It’s an old tradition that has long died out in the UK, but at Pack Leader they actually have a cat and 4 dogs. To be fair, 2 of the dogs are Shanni’s and 2 are for security, but it is still sweet to see pets being cared for by a business and having freedom to roam in the factory and offices.” So after signing the agreement with Sunny Hsieh, how did you spend the rest of your visit? You still had some days left – could you experience some Taiwanese culture? “Oh, definitely! We had another day back in the Pack Leader factory reviewing various machines and looking at different applications that could be sold in the UK market in the future. We also had numerous ongoing business matters to discuss; it made a refreshing change to be doing so face-to-face. On Friday and Saturday I had free time and Meg and Shanni were fantastic hosts showing me areas of Taiwan that I would not have seen had I been left to my own devices. All four evenings we visited local restaurants and I enjoyed the food tremendously. On one occasion they took me out for a Japanese meal of delicious battered pork chops. I also tried the traditional Bubble Tea which was a new experience for me. Although it has been very popular in the UK and Europe, I have never tried it before. “They also took me around Taichung City and to the night-market which is open until 3a.m., unimaginable in Britain, and you can buy anything; all at remarkable prices.” That is impressive. Could you also travel around the country and see other places apart from Taichung City? “On Friday we caught the high-speed train from Taichung City to Taipei, the capital. It has a maximum speed of 273km/h and had us in Taipei in 1 hour; a car journey would have been 2.5 hours. We had a look around Taipei Zoo where we saw two Pandas that were a gift from the Chinese Government to the people of Taiwan. After that we went into the centre of Taipei which has a host of fantastic new shopping centres. Taiwan is now a very wealthy island and has invested heavily in its cities and infrastructure. I have genuinely never seen a greater concentration of high-end designer shops in one place. One of my highlights was definitely when we took the fastest lift in the world up the now 2nd highest building of the world, the 101 Building which got its name from its 101 floors. As it was just sunset at that point, I could admire both the capital’s day- and nightscape………….Fantastic!” How did you finish your trip and when is the next visit to Taiwan? “On Saturday, we visited the Taiwan history museum which was very interesting and after some more time back in the centre of Taipei I took a taxi to the airport and left Taiwan around 11 at night. It was a great visit and I met some wonderful people. Pack Leader is a very professional organisation and its people were friendly, generous and accommodating hosts. Having returned home I am now fired up to ensure that Advanced Dynamics capitalise on the great benefits of our new relationship with Pack Leader and the exclusive distribution rights in the UK. I think it will not be long before I find myself in Taiwan again!” What is the next step for Advanced Dynamics Ltd.? “On 25-27 September this year we will exhibit at the PPMA, in Birmingham’s NEC. It is the Premier UK Machinery Exhibition and we exhibit there every year. This time, we will be showing a huge range of Pack Leader machines, some for the first time ever in the UK and we are confident that it will be the ideal platform to expand rapidly on our initial success with Pack Leader’s equipment. Looking to the future we already have plans to take Pack Leader to numerous exhibitions such as Pack Tech and Total in 2013, Foodex and IPEX in 2014. Finally, we have already started work with Pack Leader and on a joint exhibition presence at Interpack 2014, Europe’s biggest packaging exhibition in Düsseldorf, Germany.” Sounds like a very busy time will come up for you. “Here at Advanced Dynamics we work hard not only for today but also for the future and that means we need great partners and a stable supply chain to maintain our existing customers and to attract new customers alike. With Pack Leader I believe we have a new partnership that will allow us to maintain this philosophy well into the future.”

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