Hafele poised to tap Asean’s potential

Hafele is a German-based leader of innovations and technology for hardware, furniture, bathroom ware, electrical appliances, and kitchen appliances with German standard.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn of The Nation talks with Volker Hellstern, managing director of Hafele (Thailand), about the company’s prospects and business strategy on Thailand and Asean.

 

HOW’S HAFELE DOING IN THAILAND, AND WHICH OTHER ASEAN MARKETS HAVE THE PRODUCTS PENETRATED? 

Based on the political and economic situation in Thailand, we believe that we’re still doing very well. Project business is still strongly increasing since customers want higher product quality. Hafele is the leading importer of architectural hardware and furniture fittings in Thailand. Almost all our products are LGA [German quality] tested and certified. Additionally, we keep an extensive stock in Thailand (biggest in Asia Pacific) to deliver the orders within 24 hours.

We don’t just talk about after-sales service and professional advice, we are living it and do have a big budget to increase this further.

Hafele products are available in basically all countries in Asean. In all major markets we are present directly to provide maximum service.

We do have subsidiaries with stocks in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Philippines, as well in countries close to Asean such as Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China, India and Sri Lanka.

We also have a representative office in Myanmar with our own staff under Thai management where we do have several importers keeping stock.

In Cambodia, we have an exclusive importer who maintains sufficient stocks. Laos is covered by capable dealers who keeps stocks for us.

 

HOW DO YOU SEE THE BUSINESS OR GROWTH POTENTIAL OF HAFELE IN ASEAN? WHAT ARE THE MAJOR FACTORS THAT DRIVE THE GROWTH MOMENTUM?

Generally we see huge potential in Asean. Even if we do have good market share some countries, we believe the demand for high-quality products from Hafele will increase further. Due to the Internet, customers get a lot of information about worldwide quality products. Hafele, with worldwide presence and production partners, does have the international contacts and advanced logistics to bring these products to Thailand and Asean.

At the moment we do have very good momentum in Vietnam and Malaysia and also in India where we have seen a few years of great growth.

 

WHAT ARE THE KEY STRATEGIES YOU WILL APPLY TO CASH IN ON THE LIBERALISATION OF TRADE AND INVESTMENT IN ASEAN TO BE IN LINE WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY (AEC)?

Actually we do not see a big change for Hafele with the AEC implementation. Almost all our products are getting directly delivered from Germany to the countries. It could be helpful for special products that we do not supply in Europe to have faster service within Hafele Asean subsidiaries.

 

WHAT WILL BE THAILAND’S STRATEGIC ROLE IN PROMOTING HAFELE’S BUSINESS PLAN AND ACHIEVEMENT IN ASEAN? WHAT ARE THE MAJOR COMPETENCIES OF HAFELE’S BUSINESS OPERATIONS IN THAILAND IN SUPPORTING THE GROWTH IN THIS REGION, ESPECIALLY IN NEIGHBOURING CLMV [CAMBODIA, LAOS, MYANMAR, VIETNAM] MARKETS?

Since Hafele Thailand is the biggest subsidiary in Asia and Asean, we do support the colleagues with our extensive warehouse, logistics and advanced product management. About 19.000 products are ready to deliver from our distribution centre in Bang Na, valued at approximately US$40 million [Bt1.4 billion]. It is a strong commitment to Thailand and Asean to show the customers our local presence and support.

 

WHAT IS THE FIVE-YEAR VISION FOR THE BRAND AND THE BUSINESS DIRECTION IN THAILAND AND THE REGION?

As an importer, we are certainly looking at a strong increase in turnover, which we can achieve only with outstanding service. We call it 360-degree competence to be the number one partner in the building business for architectural hardware, furniture fittings, sanitary and home appliances.

Especially with the increased demand for built-in kitchens, we see a strong growing market since we have the agencies for all mayor kitchen manufacturer suppliers.

We also cover the increased demand in top security solutions with top class German security systems starting from copy safe master-key systems, multiple looks until latest generations of electronic locking systems.