Company develops its own machinery

Taiwan isn’t only one of the world’s biggest suppliers of hardware. The garden market is also a key target for Taiwanese manufacturers.
Yuan Mei, a company based in Greater Taichung, claims to be the biggest supplier of watering products. The manufacturer is best known for its watering control system, but its range also includes micro-drip systems, sprinklers, hose fittings, sprayers and hoses. 3 000 products are available in all and are marketed under the Aquastar brand or as OEM items.
Yuan Mei is the most highly automated company in the sector when it comes to production. 37 per cent of its manufacturing processes are automated and 39 per cent semi-automated, while the remaining 24 per cent are executed manually. It employs around 260 people, of whom 160 work in production. The company carries out 90 per cent of production in house, and only 10 per cent of components are bought from outside.

Company president Gary Wang attaches great importance to innovation. The company has more than 390 patents and so it is no surprise that Yuan Mei’s production machinery has been developed in house.
The company can look back on over 35 years of production experience. Established in 1978, it was active initially in the hardware sector before expanding into bicycle products.
Yuan Mei’s annual turnover is now around USD 40 mio and its products are available in many important DIY retailers in Europe, the USA, Japan and Australia. Its biggest single market is the USA, accounting for 36 per cent of sales. Europe accounts for roughly 20 per cent.
As well as being keen on innovation, Gary Wang cites two other factors that are close to his heart: the user-friendliness of the products and saving water. The programmable watering control system is equipped with an eco function, that ensures that the water dispensed is actually absorbed by the soil thanks to suitable watering intervals and does not flow away wasted.
The company’s production process is also eco-friendly: Yuan Mei aims to lead the way in carbon dioxide savings through packaging redesign and process improvement.