E Tai Enterprise Co. is not satisfied with being the manufacturer of the No. 1 brand of bathroom doors in Taiwan; it wants a slice of the Asian and global markets as well.

The company began making bathroom doors in 1988, after accumulating 10 years of experience in the manufacture of aluminum doors and windows. "The prices of imported bathroom doors were unreasonably high at the time," explains E Tai's general manager, Thomas Hung, "so we decided to move into that line and offer the products at more reasonable prices."

Partly as a result of E Tai's success, foreign bathroom-door suppliers have been forced out of the Taiwan market.

In early 2002 the company suspended its sales contracts with domestic sales agents and distributors of construction hardware, and began setting up its own retail outlets. "Those agents were selling products under a lot of different brands in the same shop, which made it difficult to distinguish our brand from others," Huang comments. "Furthermore, their services were far from adequate to attract customers."

The firm now has seven of its own outlets around Taiwan, offering integrated services from bathroom planning to building and installation. This kind of service is a first for the island.

To assure the provision of high-quality, comprehensive services, E Tai set up a special 50-member task force to work with the retail outlets. This move boosted the company's payroll to 160 at the end of last year--up from a little over 100 at the year's beginning--but brought a huge increase in sales volume. As a result, Huang predicts that his turnover will reach NT$300 million (US$8.67 million at NT$34.5:US$1) this year, more than double the 2002 figure.

The company's shops offer not only bathroom doors but also a wide variety of shower panels, reinforced-glass basins, toilet seats, "massage" bathtubs, shower rooms, steam cabins, and other bathroom accessories. All are sold under the "Itai" brand.

Enrichment Through Outsourcing

"We design and produce mainly bathroom doors, shower panels, and other essential parts and accessories," Hung reports, "but outsource other bathroom products from other manufacturers on an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) basis so as to enrich our product

mix."

The company enjoys ISO9002 certification, and assures top-quality, customized services. "We make bathroom hardware much like a producer of fashion products," Hung says. "Each customer has his own individual tastes, so we have to offer customized products to cater to individual specifications."

Even those items produced by others on an OEM bases have to undergo strict testing and quality-control measures at the company's own testing lab. The glass panels of its bathroom doors, for example, have to prove themselves able to resist a 45-kilogram impact from an iron ball, and its glass basins must be able to withstand temperature fluctuations of 200 degrees.

E Tai currently exports less than 30% of its total output, with most overseas shipments going to Europe and Southeast Asia. The company hopes that the export ratio will be expanded to 80% to 90% over the next five to six years, since the domestic market is too small to allow economies of scale in production.

To reach that goal, the company will participate aggressively in international hardware and household product shows so as to boost its exposure in the international arena, reports E Tai's export manager, Jose Luis Tai.

Most of the firm's exports go to foreign manufacturers of bathroom doors and other bathroom products, Tai says, because "those buyers have their own market bases and distribution channels, and they are able to build up sales quickly. We want to change our foreign counterparts, some of whom are our rivals, into reliable cooperative partners."

In pursuit of this policy E Tai has signed production-alliance agreements with partners in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, as well as sales agreements with agents in Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Morocco, the United States, and Vietnam.