Emphasis on R&D Makes Chang Loon a Leading Supplier of Gear Wrenches

A strong emphasis on research and development ever since its establishment in 1978 has made the Chang Loon Industrial Co. one of Taiwan's top suppliers of hand tools.

Starting out by making low-end hand tools on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) basis, Chang Loon quickly accumulated the metalworking know-how and understanding of the importance of quality needed to keep its business growing and improving. Today the firm is a foremost producer of high-quality gear wrenches and bolt cutters that comply with international standards such as ANSI and DIN, and that outperform the competition in terms of torque force and durability.

What really sets Chang Loon apart from its fellows, however, is its heavy focus on R&D. Every manager and supervisor in the company, in fact, plays an active role in every R&D decision, assuring the development of tools that meet the real needs of users.

But the company does not completely trust its own competence alone. It supplies newly developed hand tools to users on a trial basis and then, based on the resulting feedback, smoothes out the imperfections and repeats the process until the tools are perfected and ready to launch. This expensive and time-consuming process allows the company to fine-tune its products until they fully meet the requirements.

The results of this process are seen clearly in Chang Loon's 3-in-1 bolt cutter, of which the upper sides of its two arms are especially heat-treated to give a stronger structure and better performance. Serrated edges, the design of which is protected by patents in different countries, allow the cutter to grasp round bolts tightly.

The tool was developed to be light weight, and it can be used to cut wires, bolts, and cables without the need for loading complementary tools.

Another of Chang Loon's outstanding function-oriented tools is its ratchet wrench, which is available in an entire series. These tools are made of chrome vanadium, hot drop-forged and heat-treated for long life and good looks. What makes them really different from the competition, however, is their precise, practical 72-tooth ratchet that makes them more efficient and energy-stingy.

Each small twist moves the wrench precisely through five degrees, allowing users to work in the narrow spaces that are often found in auto repair as well as construction and plumbing work. It has a highly sophisticated structural design and extremely close tolerances, with a special mechanism that allows users to move efficiently from one cycle to the next. This ratchet wrench has helped to boost Chang Loon to a leading position in its area of business.

The company markets its hand tools under its own brands, including Catch Leader, Gear Metal, and CHL. Company chairman Chang Chih-ming comments that it has spared no effort to add value to its branded products, because even a fully developed brand can decline and disappear from store shelves if innovation and improvement are neglected.

Driven by the results of its R&D effort, Chang Loon's hand tools have built up popularity in Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Canada, and the United States. Sales in those and other markets have made the company Taiwan's biggest shipper of gear wrenches.