Son perfects father's business | Bangkok Post: learning

About business

When his father told him to sell the family watch business, Richard Han instead developed it one of Asia's biggest electronics companies.

Business man Richard Han who made his father's struggling watch company into one of the largest electronics companies in Asia.

Click button to listen to Growing a Business download

Economics

Trusting his instincts

Belief that he could turn a sleepy watch company into an electronics giant has paid off for Richard Han
1/10/2012
Nithi Kaveevivitchai

Hana Microelectronics might never have become the industry power it is today if Richard Han had done what his father had told him to do some 20 years ago.

His instructions had been to sell the struggling family-founded business in Bangkok, and while he tried, he was unhappy with the price offered. In the end, Mr Han took it upon himself to keep the business going.

At the time, Hana was a midsized company employing about 400 work­ers and its main business was assem­bling wristwatches. Today it is one of the leading independent electronic manufacturing service (EMS) producers in the region with facilities in Bangkok, Lamphun and Ayutthaya in Thailand, another plant in Shanghai and an R&D centre in the US state of Ohio.

The SET-listed company employs more than 12,000 people and provides a wide scope of assembly processes serving a diverse range of electronic industries, including top smartphone producers Apple Inc and Research in Motion Ltd (RIM), the BlackBerry maker..

...Still in his early 20s, Mr Han spent most of his time carrying on ... [an artificial flower business] he set up by himself in the UK [when he was attending school there] and visiting other parts of Europe. However, the real challenge started when he came back to Thailand as his father had assigned him a very difficult task, which was to sell Hana’s business, as it was doing poorly at that time.

Hana started out in Bangkok in 1978 as a small maker of watch parts and gradually expanded into watch assembly, integrated circuits, coils and electronics for watches and other products. But by the early 1990s it had started to struggle.

I had to work with a financial advisory firm but instead of selling the company, I managed to convince them to buy a 10% stake in our business,” says Mr Han.

It was a very difficult time and I needed to run around and borrow money. The whole point was that we needed the cash; the company needed to get some breathing space.

In the electronics industry there are two trends that every player needs to be aware of: short product life cycle and mass customisation. Given these conditions, having ample capital on hand is always essential.

Mr Han, young and energetic, was unfazed by the challenge; it got his adrenalin pumping.

The turnaround did come and by 1993, he got the company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, though he had to wait out a political upheaval.

The time when we decided to sell the IPO was during the same period as Black May 1992, when the country was having serious protests against the government and the bloody military crackdown that followed; it was such a terrible time.

I did manage to sell the IPO but we couldn’t get traded. Eventually, things got sorted out. And the first day the shares were traded at 59 baht and they have never gone below IPO price ever since.” ...

Looking to the future, Mr Han declares that he still sees Hana as a small company that is still growing...

"The past five years have been tough for our industry, mostly to do with the rise in wages,” he says. “Our industry is dollar-based and the currency has been very weak. Rising exchange rates and rising wages have been great burdens for the company. How to figure these out and how to take Hana to the next level is our main challenge.

One possibility is to do more manufacturing in lower-cost countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar. He believes Hana could have a new factory up and running by mid-2014, most likely in Cambodia...

...the problems in these two countries are the inadequacy of telecom infrastructure, logistics, lack of skilled labour and power.”...

(Source: Bangkok Post, Economics, Trusting his instincts, Belief that he could turn a sleepy watch company into an electronics giant has paid off for Richard Han,  1/10/2012, Nithi Kaveevivitchai, link) 


Growing a Business Vocabulary

IPO - Initial Public Offering, when a company sells its stock for the first time and becomes publicly owned (See Wikipedia)

trusting his instincts - believe in the way he feels about something (not thinking and analyzing too much, but relying on feeling based on experience)

sleepy watch company - a company that makes watches (not growing very fast, not advancing, not coming up withe new products and ideas, etc) 

business idea paid off - profited from the idea, in the end
belief paid off - profited from the belief (the basis of a business plan), in the end
belief that he could turn a sleepy watch company into an electronics giant has paid off for Richard Han

industry power - one of the most powerful companies in an industry

Hana Microelectronics might never have become the industry power it is today if Richard Han had done what his father had told him to do some 20 years ago.

instructions - telling what to do (in some task or process)

struggling - having serious difficulties มีความยุ่งยาก
struggling family-founded business

keep the business going

His instructions had been to sell the struggling family-founded business in Bangkok, and while he tried, he was unhappy with the price offered. In the end, Mr Han took it upon himself to keep the business going.

midsized - not large, not small (size in the middle)
a midsized company employing about 400 work­ers

assemble (verb) - making some good to sell from parts (in a factory)
assem­bling wristwatches
its main business was assem­bling wristwatches

assembly (noun)
assembly processes

electronic manufacturing service (EMS) producer

independent - separate, not connected to a larger multinational company  พึ่งตนเอง
one of the leading independent electronic manufacturing service (EMS) producers in the region

facilities - the buildings, equipment and services provided for a particular purpose สิ่งอำนวยความสะดวก
facilities in Bangkok, Lamphun and Ayutthaya in Thailand

plant - factory
a plant in Shanghai

R&D - Research and Development, creating new products and processes (for the company to manufacture and produce)
an R&D centre in the US state of Ohio

At the time, Hana was a midsized company employing about 400 work­ers and its main business was assem­bling wristwatches. Today it is one of the leading independent electronic manufacturing service (EMS) producers in the region with facilities in Bangkok, Lamphun and Ayutthaya in Thailand, another plant in Shanghai and an R&D centre in the US state of Ohio.

SET-listed company - a company whose stock is traded by the public on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET)

range - a number of different things that are of the same general type ขอบข่าย, ประเภท
diverse range - many different kinds of something
a wide scope - Same as "diverse range"

a wide scope of assembly processes serving a diverse range of electronic industries

The SET-listed company employs more than 12,000 people and provides a wide scope of assembly processes serving a diverse range of electronic industries, including top smartphone producers Apple Inc and Research in Motion Ltd (RIM), the BlackBerry maker..

artificial - not natural, made by humans จำลอง ที่มนุษย์สร้างขึ้น ที่ประดิษฐ์ขึ้น
artificial flower - flowers made of plastic, cloth or some other material
an artificial flower business

challenge - something that needs a lot of skill, energy, and determination to do with or achieve สิ่งที่ท้าทาย, การท้าทาย
the real challenge started when

task - something that you have to do, often something that is difficult or unpleasant ภารกิจ หน้าที่
a difficult task
a very difficult task

assign a task - give work to someone to do
his father had assigned him a very difficult task

watch assembly - making watches in a factory (putting parts together)
integrated circuits - the small electronics in computers and other electronics devices
coils - small circles of wire used in electronics

struggle - a very difficult task that you can do only by making a great effort ความพยายาม
by the early 1990s it had started to struggle.

...Still in his early 20s, Mr Han spent most of his time carrying on ... [an artificial flower business] he set up by himself in the UK [when he was attending school there] and visiting other parts of Europe. However, the real challenge started when he came back to Thailand as his father had assigned him a very difficult task, which was to sell Hana’s business, as it was doing poorly at that time. Hana started out in Bangkok in 1978 as a small maker of watch parts and gradually expanded into watch assembly, integrated circuits, coils and electronics for watches and other products. But by the early 1990s it had started to struggle.

firm - a business or company บริษัท
financial advisory firm - company with experts that tell another company what  to do about raising money or dealing with debt (money owed)
work with a financial advisory firm

convince - make people believe in something; saying things to make a person believe something
managed to convince them

stake - a share or a financial involvement in something such as a business
a 10% stake in a business
buy a 10% stake in our business
managed to convince them to buy a 10% stake in our business

run around - do a lot of things, go to a lot of places (in order to get something done)
I needed to run around and borrow money

The whole point was ...  - the whole reason was ...

breathing space - when your actions are limited by problems that you face (like not being able to breathe)
the company needed to get some breathing space

cash - money เงินสด
we needed cash; the company needed to get some breathing space

I had to work with a financial advisory firm but instead of selling the company, I managed to convince them to buy a 10% stake in our business,” says Mr Han. It was a very difficult time and I needed to run around and borrow money. The whole point was that we needed the cash; the company needed to get some breathing space.

trend - a gradual change or development towards something
aware - knowing that something exists, or having knowledge or experience of a particular thing ทราบ
two trends that every player needs to be aware

cycle - a series of events repeated over and over again (in the same order)

product life cycle - "the stages through which a product or its category bypass. From its introduction to the marketing, growth, maturity to its decline or reduce in demand in the market. Not all product reach this final stage, some continues to grow and some rise and fall" (See Wikipedia)
short product life cycle

mass - large numbers จำนวนมหาศาล
customisation - changing a product to meet and fit a customer's special needs; making something specially to meet one customer's needs
mass customisation

ample - enough  
capital - money invested in a business (to keep it operating)
ample capital - having enough money invested in the business (to keep it running smoothly)

on hand - having something so it is ready to use when you need it
ample capital on hand

essential - necessary and important ที่จำเป็น ที่สำคัญ
having ample capital on hand is always essential

energetic - having or involving a lot of energy กระตือรือร้น, กระฉับกระเฉง
young and energetic

adrenalin - the chemical that prepares the body to deal with emergency or stress situations
adrenalin pumping

unfazed - not changed (bothered, annoyed, upset) by a big event 
unfazed by the challenge; it got his adrenalin pumping.

In the electronics industry there are two trends that every player needs to be aware of: short product life cycle and mass customisation. Given these conditions, having ample capital on hand is always essential. Mr Han, young and energetic, was unfazed by the challenge; it got his adrenalin pumping.

turnaround - a big change from a bad to good situation 
the turnaround did come and by 1993, he got the company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand

upheaval - a sudden violent change that affects people's lives
political upheaval

wait out - wait for something to finish (before doing something)
wait out a political upheaval.

protests - meetings, sometimes forceful or violent, or public statements by people who strongly disagree with something ชุมนุมประท้วง
serious protests against the government

crackdown - strong action that someone in authority takes to stop a particular activity การใช้กำลังสลายผู้ประท้วง การปราบจลาจล การใช้กำลังเข้าปราบปรามของเจ้าหน้าที่ การปราบปรามขั้นเด็ดขาด
bloody military crackdown

traded - bought and sold ค้าขาย
the IPO but we couldn’t get traded

The turnaround did come and by 1993, he got the company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, though he had to wait out a political upheaval. The time when we decided to sell the IPO was during the same period as Black May 1992, when the country was having serious protests against the government and the bloody military crackdown that followed; it was such a terrible time. I did manage to sell the IPO but we couldn’t get traded. Eventually, things got sorted out. And the first day the shares were traded at 59 baht and they have never gone below IPO price ever since.” ...

tough - difficult to do or to deal with ยาก  ยากลำบาก
the past five years have been tough for our industry

wages - the amount of money earned per hour by a worker
the rise in wages

currency - a widely used the money accepted for exchange of goods in an economy เงินตรา (See Wikipedia)
Our industry is dollar-based and the currency has been very weak

burden - a difficult responsibility, a difficult thing to do
Rising exchange rates and rising wages have been great burdens for the company

figure out - solve a problem
How to figure these out

up and running - started and operasting (doing its job)
have a new factory up and running by mid-2014

telecom - telecommunications, dealing with telephones การโทรคมนาคม หมายถึง การสื่อสารทางไกลโดยใช้โทรศัพท์ เคเบิล โทรทัศน์ วิทยุและโทรเลข
infrastructure - the high-cost facilities that everyone in the economy shares (water, roads, electricity, trains) สาธารณูปโภค
telecom infrastructure

adequate (adjective) - good enough (to do something)
inadequate (adjective) - not good enough (to do something)

inadequacy (noun) - the state or condition of "not being good enough"
the inadequacy of telecom infrastructure

logistics - transporting and storing goods on the way from factory to consumer (See Wikipedia) การขนส่งและจัดจำหน่ายสินค้า การขนส่งสินค้า

lack - does not have ขาดแคลน

power - energy in the form of electricity produced in large quantities and used to operate lights, machines, and heating
lack of power

skilled labour - workers who have gone to school and have special knowledge they can use in their job
lack of skilled labour

lack of skilled labour and power

Looking to the future, Mr Han declares that he still sees Hana as a small company that is still growing... "The past five years have been tough for our industry, mostly to do with the rise in wages,” he says. “Our industry is dollar-based and the currency has been very weak. Rising exchange rates and rising wages have been great burdens for the company. How to figure these out and how to take Hana to the next level is our main challenge. One possibility is to do more manufacturing in lower-cost countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar. He believes Hana could have a new factory up and running by mid-2014, most likely in Cambodia... ...the problems in these two countries are the inadequacy of telecom infrastructure, logistics, lack of skilled labour and power.”...

Tell us what you think about this article

Like dislike 2 people liked / 0 people disliked it

Share this article

0

0

• More +

• Republishing permission
• Print this

Bangkok Post online classifieds

Try buying & selling goods and properties 24/7 in our classifieds which has high purchasing power local & expatriate audience from within Thailand and around the world.