Interview with Shio-Shen Ho, Director of the Department of Machinery, Kayton Industrial Co. Ltd

Chang Hua, Taiwan – Shio-Shen Ho, Director of the Department of Machinery, Kayton Industrial Co. Ltd has amassed his wealth of knowledge in production line management since his early years in the large tire industry, owing to his self-trained English and Japanese. He has firsthand experience in advanced production machines from various developed countries. Having spent decades traveling the world observing production lines, gaining valuable manufacturing experience from the world’s leading tire manufacturers, while also developing solid fundamental skills from customers every day.

Mr. Ho’s entrepreneurial spirit and effective management style are important factors in Kayton’s success. His unique perspective on raw material component selection enabled his company to expand operations and attract the attention of quality-conscious customers from Europe and leading manufacturers in Japan.

Keys to gaining Japanese customers’ trust: The use of high-specification parts and carefully selected component brands. Kayton’s design principles, such as part stability and longevity, are now widely acknowledged to have increased customer trust in the company.

The company has developed many high-performance, high precision and advanced tire manufacturing machines. Kayton emphasizes on technical R&D and manufacturing based on quality over cost. Although the price is high with additional processing required, the products are highly stable, allowing users to produce high-quality products with confidence. Large gear reducers on all extrusion machines are 100% made in Germany by SEW, while critical bearings are made out of world-renowned brands, such as SKF or FAG.

“Always improving” – presenting the best to customers. Only keeping things simple will not help the company grow, says Mr. Ho. There was a story behind this. Three years earlier, a Japanese customer placed a second order for the same machine. The mechanical design department dug up the previous customer’s purchase model data and was ready to deliver the same model, but Mr. Ho refused to approve it on the spot after seeing the design drawing. Despite the fact that the previous customer had approved the design, Mr. Ho explained to his design team that they have a responsibility to provide customers with better products. Having said this, Kayton learns and improves in every delivery process.

Thus, after receiving the test machine, the Japanese customer wrote a thank you letter, stating that what they received exceeded their expectations and that they appreciated Kayton’s initiative to improve many details. This story demonstrates Kayton’s corporate culture of doing its best to serve customers — “Always Improving.”

The ultimate goal is “no service required” + “24×20 availability”. Kayton strives to build machines with a long production life. Its ultimate goal is to keep improving the machine design and its brand name with easy-to-purchase replacement parts and consumables, so that customers can use the machines 24 hours a day for 20 years, with the least amount of after-service.

Aside from initially convincing customers with its quality machines, Kayton has now the strength and reputation to improve its image and become one of the world’s most well-known tires and rubber products machine manufacturer. Its machines are quickly gaining recognition from renowned companies in Japan and Europe for its efficiency, stability, and affordability.