THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Accolades spur couple to boost research efforts for pipeline of innovative products

Accolades spur couple to boost research efforts for pipeline of innovative products

WITH a clutch of awards for an innovative product behind them, Rene and Thanawan Pitayataratorn moved back to Thailand from Europe to set up a company for research and development (R&D) into software and hardware products with a focus on innovation and green solutions.

The couple first tasted success in business 16 years ago when, while based in Austria, they developed a personal tracking device.
“My husband Rene has received many awards over the years as a result of his long experience from research and development into innovative products,” Thanawan, who is vice president and marketing director of All Information Technologies Co Ltd, said in an interview with The Nation recently.
“Among these awards was a gold medal with special mention at the World Exhibition on Innovation, Research and New Technologies, Brussels Eureka 2001, the Merite de L’invention, Diplome de Chevalier at the same Brussels-Eureka event in 2002, and winner of the National Award with the first prize in the Science and Technology Innovation (STI) Thailand Awards 2015.
 “As a result of this success, Rene had the idea to research and develop both hardware and software products to serve the demands of customers and to set up this business in Thailand.”

Thanawan said that the strong market response from the development of the tracking device provided the funds they needed to keep up research into new products.
They had been living in Austria, one of the countries that Thai-Austrian Rene has called home, when they embarked on that project.
When they had finalised the development of the tracking device, they spent an investment budget Bt50 million – from the company the couple had set up – to have the product manufactured in Thailand.
“At that time, we found there were two countries that were suitable for making our personal tracking device at a reasonable cost and at the required quality - China and Thailand. But as we have Thai nationality, we decided to go ahead with the production of our consumer products in Thailand.”
Confident in the prospects for the tracking device, Thanawan and Rene, who is president of All Information Technologies Co Ltd, decided to establish their research firm, All Information Technologies Co Ltd, with registered capital of Bt7 million in Thailand in 2004. 
The company’s focus is on serving customers’ demands, she said. The company conducts its own research into promising product ideas after assessing demand in the market. It then may collaborate with other researchers to carry out more extensive R&D work.
Currently, the company is conducting research into hardware and software with about 30 researchers. Among the ideas the husband-and-wife team are looking to advance is a robot that can do welding. For some projects the research will be done in-house, Thanawan said, with outside researchers brought in as needed.
The Tukky Lamp is among the products that the company has enjoyed success with. The LED lamp has been designed by the company with energy savings in mind. With the environmentally friendly lamp, the various parts can be replaced whenever required. This helps to reduce electronic waste.
 The product received the runner-up award in the energy-saving category for corporate use at the Thailand Green Design Awards (TGDA) 2018. The event was conducted by Kasetsart University’s Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Product Improvement Institute (KAPI).
Thanawan said the company took three years to develop the Tukky Lamp before testing out the market last year with about 5,000 units.
It plans to officially launch the product this year with expectations of producing 10,000 units. The couple are particularly targeting the export market with the product, which they say will be competitive with other LED lamps in the market.
“Under our plans, up to 70 per cent of the output will be exported to Europe, the USA, China, and Mexico, as we see demand for the product in these market. The remainder of the planned production will be aimed at the domestic market,” Thanawan |said.
“Our main business is the research and development of products. Producing the products for sale in the market, such as with the Tukky Lamp, generates less income for our business,” Thanawan said.
“But we see this as a challenge for us, as we are confident that our products have the quality to result in improved quality of living for our customers.”
The company generates income at an average of Bt10 million a year.
Thanawan said that research into any given product takes much time and effort. But she said they feel pride when a project is completed and the product is ready to be launched, and this approach can create a sustainable income for the company.
 “For some of our research projects, we have spent more than 10 years working on them before bringing them to completion.
“This is the way that we do our business and it provides a more sustainable basis of operation than if we had merely bought the technology from others.”
 

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