R&D centre planned to spur ideas for start-ups in electronics sector

“We decided to expand our investment to open an R&D centre and also make it our production base in Thailand, moving operations from our plant in the US, after seeing a business opportunity for Thailand to be research centre for electronic experimental solutions in the region,” founder and chief executive officer Sharnon Tulabadi told The Nation recently. 
The local company was established in 2013 after Sharnon successfully built up his business, Gravitech USA, which was formed in 2006 after using just US$40 (Bt1,400) initially for the production of electronic products for sale via eBay.
“I started to make electronic products to serve my own needs, but found I had enough raw materials to produce more than that I could use. As a result, I posted my products for sale on eBay, and got positive feedback and orders worth $150, for a production cost of $$40. Then, most of my customers asked me for more products which inspired me to make electronic products, designed by me, for the market,” he explained. 
Initially making them from home, Sharnon got so many orders that he decided to open a plant in Nevada to manufacture products for sale in the US.
 Having built US sales to more than Bt30 million a year, Sharnon decided to expand his business to the Kingdom by opening Gravitech Thai (Thailand) with registered capital of Bt1 million, initially opening an R&D office on Rama IV Road in Bangkok. 
The R&D office collaborated with young-generation engineers seeking to develop innovative electronic products, he said, adding that when they were ready for the market, the company had them manufactured in the US. 
Last year, the company opened a new centre at Fortune Town as an open space for R&D and a maker space for people with innovative ideas, separating the space into four functions. 
The first is a training centre that opens opportunity for people with innovative ideas but who lack the experience to carry them through to production.
The second section is a shop for the sale of Gravitech products, of which there are about 200 items, and imported electronics. 
The third area is a maker space fitted with equipment so that people with ideas can turn them into final products. 
There is also a crowd-funding section for those with a viable product idea but lacking the funds to have it produced.
With positive feedback about the Fortune Town centre’s ability to create start-ups and bring products the market, Sharnon decided to build an R&D centre at Thailand Science Park, in Pathum Thani’s Rangsit district, which will be open this year. 
The centre, which will provide knowledge to budding innovators, will also be Gravitech’s manufacturing base for exporting its products to the US.
As production costs in the US are much higher than in Thailand, parts will no longer be made at the Nevada facility, whose output only accounts for 10 per cent of our sales value.
The US business will in future focus on sales and marketing. 
“We are confident Thailand can be an R&D hub for electronic products, as we will have more expertise in the industry if we provide business opportunity and suitable training,” the 37-year-old said.