Chairman Lai’s Steel Structure Kingdom - A Breakthrough in the Traditional Industry (Part One)


Coverage Story on CT Chairman Lai, Wen-xiang

Xiao, Yu-ping 

Source / Trade Insight



Taiwanese Canine is a kind of half-breed species that lives in the treacherous landform and flourishing forest. With fast response and great perseverance, Taiwanese Canine is both independent and adaptive. To be a great business leader in Taiwan, one must possess these kinds of characteristics.

“I am just a Taiwanese Canine!” Chairman Lai described himself as a Taiwanese Canine in the course of interview, which surprised everyone on site, “Without rich parents or high educational background, I have to uphold the spirit of a Taiwanese Canine and start up my business step by step completely from scratch.”


Chairman to the listed company Century Iron and Steel Corporation, Lai explained that he has started up his business completely from scratch. Born to a farm family in Dalin Township of Chiayi County, Chairman Lai was not interested in studying during his school years and has thus located a job as an iron window apprentice at Sanchong District of New Taipei County after graduating from junior high school. After completing his military service, he has started up his iron window factory with his wife Chen, Xing-xue. “In the old days, an iron factory is always composed of one master and two apprentices,” Chairman Lai explained. Entrepreneurship is never an easy task in the beginning. In the early stage of his entrepreneurship, Chairman Lai should always hang the iron window on the upper floor while his wife fix the rope on the lower floor. Despite her pregnancy, his wife should sometimes carry their daughter with her and work alongside with Chairman Lai when the business turned busy. Due to these revolutionary feelings, the couple loves each other deeply. 


Starting All Over Again to Have the Company Liste

During the 1980s, Chairman Lai saw rows upon rows of high rise buildings composed of H beans while traveling in Japan. He considered steel structure as a promising industry and has rented a factory at Guanyin District of Taoyuan County with his friends after returning back to Taiwan in 1987, which has become a starting point for Century Iron & Steel Corporation. Since there is no sufficient manpower and capital at the beginning of his entrepreneurship, Chairman Lai has to rush all the way to the bank before 3:30 in the afternoon to borrow enough money for his business. In order to address the financial problems, Chairman Lai has decided to print stock in exchange for cash. He started entrusting professional institution with counseling and marketing services to apply for the company listing. At that time, his friends all laughed at him by saying, "Mr. Lai must be insane! How can an iron factory ever be admitted as a listed company?" As expected, his application form was rejected by the authority in charge. Nonetheless, Chairman Lai is never defeated. After 8 years of hard work rearranging the financial condition and human resource of his company, Chairman Lai has successfully applied for the company listing in 2008. CT has thus become the only iron & steel company listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) in the past 10 years, moving on to the brand new milestone.


Working alongside with his professional team, Chairman Lai has written countless glorious history for the company, including completing the first 8-inch semiconductor fabrication plants as entrusted by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and the first LCD plant as entrusted by Acer Display Technology Incorporation (predecessor to AU Optronics Corporation). However, since CT belongs to a diminishing traditional industry with its consumer market gradually saturated, Chairman Lai has already foreseen the confinement of domestic steel structure industry. “Taiwan is just an island with public works very much developed. With given land area, there would soon be no construction project left for us to be completed.” In order to survive under this confined environment, Chairman Lai has decided to maintain high competitiveness by focusing on overall management quality and product quality. To CT, an open communication channel must be established so that every time a major decision is made, the company could make immediate response and execute the company policy smoothly.

                                     

New Factory in Myanmar

In views of the confined space in Taiwan, Chairman Lai has discovered an unlimited business potential in the developing countries. Therefore, he has purchased a land (with 30,000 pings) for the construction of his new factory at Thilawa Special Economic Zone near to Yangon City of Myanmar. Chairman Lai pointed out that since basic infrastructure is an indispensable part in the early stage of a developing countries, construction project for bridge and high-rise building are still at its primitive stage for the virgin land of Myanmar. Chairman Lai explained that the purpose for building a factory is not to manufacture the products for others but to help others establish their own factories. After establishing his own factory, other business operators would naturally follow-in. Chairman Lai could then use that opportunity to build new factories for other business operators. Chairman Lai explained, "Based on the completion of the first-term factory construction project, we start out the second-term factory construction project, which in turn gives rise to the third-term factory construction project. Afterwards, we will start seeking for potential clients in the industrial park. We decide to take solid steps instead of taking high risks."


Finding a new path for CT, Chairman Lai has foreseen steel structure’s business potential in the green industry.