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“During COVID-19, mold & die industry is very much impacted by the decreasing number of orders, but the industry is still able to export,” Mr. Boonlert Chodchoi, President of the Thai Tool and Die Industry Association (TDIA) and Managing Director of C.C. Auto Parts Co., Ltd. told Reed Tradex team on the day we paid him a visit. “During Tom Yum Kung crisis in 1997, C.C. Auto Parts experienced a temporary shutdown due to the pause of the assembly line. At the time, we were still 100% OEM provider, which was not stable in the long run. If we insisted on doing only OEM and relying on product order from others, uncertainties would have definitely brought us down.” The lesson learned has led C.C. Auto Parts to expand their business, changing from an auto parts manufacturer to brand owner of dental equipment, electronic part, agriculture machine & component, and industrial machinery, as well as being a longtime exhibitor of METALEX.

“The problem faced in mold & die industry is that industrialists have to work single-handedly and tend to overinvest, resulting in the high capital cost. As the president of TDIA, I am aiming to upgrade industrialists’ productivity to be more international. We’ll start off by establishing clusters of start-up companies and assigning large-sized companies to lead tasks acquirement and distribution. For small-sized companies, we will let them work based on their specialization. This new business model will increase quantity of work per month,” Mr. Boonlert explained his project and emphasized his determination to materialize it during his term as the association’s president.

TDIA is the knowledge sharing and supporting center for mold & die industry that currently has a total member of 362 companies. Mr. Boonlert mentioned the supporting measures for those industrialists impacted by the crisis “We have cooperated with various organizations to lend a helping hand for those in need. One of them is the banks, which will assist in holding the principal payment and allowing industrialists to be entitled to special lower interest rate. We have also petitioned the government consideration to subsidize 50% wages for those with a base salary of 15,000 baht.”

“To establish the cluster, we will choose 10-15 companies to join this model. We will provide know-how and advice on machinery investment to equip industrialists an ability to design and assemble mold & die on their own, so it will help industrialists get through this crisis.”