Win Seng Manufacturing Factory Ltd.

On ever-expanding choices for the handicraft gifts market

The expert handicraft gifts manufacturer, Win Seng Manufacturing Factory Ltd., has been in the business since 1988, says the company's sales manager Joyce Cheng. She recalls that the company was initially in the pure production mode for other exporters at its China factory before swelling into its own export sales activities in 1995.

"We now have all our production done in mainland China, while the administration headquarters and the showroom are in Hong Kong to provide timely sales and marketing services to our overseas customers," states Miss Cheng.

Win Seng's substantial manufacturing experience has given the company an edge in producing quality handicraft gifts. "It is a business of true workmanship. It engages all delicate skills and intensive care throughout the whole production process, from sculpting, moulding, casting through painting and the final packaging. We have to add an important step, the firing procedure, when dealing with ceramic and porcelain items," Miss Cheng starts introducing the production essentials.

Miss Cheng continues to elaborate on the production stages involved. "The first step is sculpting, meaning to produce a clay model. We hire professional craftsmen to carve and shape the initial model with high-quality brown clay material. When the sculpture is done, we let the mould dry out completely before working the smoothening process in order to achieve a perfect mother mould. The perfect mould will then be sent to the casting department for mass production and colour painting thereafter. For ceramic and porcelain items, there requires one last stage of firing at high temperature of 650 - 12600C to prevent cracks in the finished products."

Miss Cheng stresses that the quality of the mother mould is critical to the final products. "Depending on the materials being used, the durability of the mould varies. So we have set our own standard in the casting process. For example, liquid ceramic is dissolvent material that would slightly melt the mould. When we produce ceramic gift items, moulds are only used for doing a limited casting to guarantee high and consistent quality of the output," assures Miss Cheng.

For almost two decades, Win Seng's handicraft gifts have been thriving in the market by ever-expanding the product range and constantly rolling out new designs. "Designs have to be updated regularly to stimulate the market. Recently, we are focusing on garden decoration products made in a series of animal cartoon characters," Miss Cheng tells MegAsia of the rising popularity of sizable household ornaments.

The company's versatile product range also includes a wide selection of egg-trinket boxes, figurines, photo frames, bobble head dolls, saving banks and even kitchenware and bathroom accessories. "We have special collections specially made for festivals and memorable occasions like wedding. Christmas is one of our peak selling seasons. Every year, we come up with lots of new product ideas and designs to surprise the market," adds Miss Cheng.

According to Miss Cheng, the present trend of the gifts market has gone beyond merely a nice outlook. "Among our wide product range, the desk lamps, candle holders and music boxes are popping in as top favourites of our customers. Functional gifts are to be the upcoming direction of gift manufacturing," notes Miss Cheng.

Win Seng's products currently hold a strong presence in Europe and the US (accounting for 70% of the company's business), as well as some Asian countries like Japan and Taiwan. "For the European market, we mainly sell to Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain. We have also noted that Eastern Europe is now growing at a fast pace," Miss Cheng reveals.

Win Seng aims at rendering customers a "one-stop" product solution, from product design, product development, manufacturing, packaging and shipment. "We are proud of the original designs created by our R&D talents. They are capable of generating lots of new ideas to broaden our product portfolio from time to time," says Miss Cheng.

The company carries out all its ODM production at its factory in Fujian Province of mainland China. "It has around 700 workers and a whole line of advanced equipment to carve out our well-designed products. Meanwhile, we have another factory dedicated mainly to OEM manufacturing. It is now equipped with a workforce of 400 labourers in the production line," Miss Cheng says.

Win Seng has excelled with great reputation in OEM projects. The company works closely with the OEM customers. It usually provides great suggestions and expert advice to refine product designs and packaging within their budget. "We encountered a packaging problem with one customer once. It's the delicate edge in the original design that could be easily damaged during shipping. After taking our advice, the customer agreed to make a minor twist on the design. It worked at last. Both of us were happy with the result," recalls Miss Cheng, citing one of her successful OEM projects.

Trade fairs are the Win Seng's major marketing channels. "We are very active in overseas promotions and seize every opportunity at various trade fairs we participate to put up a strong line-up of our latest products, says Miss Cheng. "This year, for example, we will continue to join the MACEF in Italy and Premiere Fair in Frankfurt of Germany. Of course, Kenfair's October Mega Show in Hong Kong and TDC's Hong Kong Gifts and Premium Fair and Hong Kong Houseware Fair are our perennial showcases."

Constant product innovation and all-round customer service will continue to be Win Seng's motto and driving force. "We fully appreciate the importance of freshness and originality in product design as well as quality service in today's highly competitive global market arena – they are key to our business success," Miss Cheng concludes.