Siam Cement Group is revving up its innovation drive with products that capitalise on the emerging trends here and across Asean.
All three business units - building materials, chemicals and packaging - unveiled their new product line-ups at SCG Experience yesterday, ahead of their exhibition to the public next month.
Under the "Innovation that Cares" theme, the products are mainly designed for greater convenience for the elderly and consumers of other age groups.
Among them are construction materials for senior citizens, an operations kit made from plastic, food-grade paper boxes and microwavable packages that can automatically release steam.
"Before, we responded to customers' preferences. Now, we are setting new trends - to lead us all to a greater quality of life," said Kan Trakulhoon, president and chief executive officer of the industrial conglomerate.
In front of dozens of journalists including many from Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia and Laos, he said the elderly offer a new business opportunity, as their numbers are growing in nearly all societies.
After the launch in Thailand, these products have the potential to be introduced to other Asean nations along with others categorised as high valued-added (HVA) products.
"It is true that we export mostly commodities from Thailand to Asean, but our HVA products are also exported to the United States, Europe and Japan.
"But we see the trend that the demand is coming from Asean," he said.
The new packaging is also expected to win a warm reception, thanks to the fast growth of the regional food industry.
Still in the research stage, the operations kits will cost only 10 per cent of metal kits. Plus, they promise a shorter recovery time.
Kan could not hide his pride in the fact that these products were derived from years of investment in research and development. Since 2004, SCG has allocated a huge budget to R&D activities.
In the first nine months of this year, R&D spending reached Bt2.35 billion or 0.7 per cent of sales, against Bt2.7 billion spent throughout last year.
"We believe we are the biggest spender in terms of R&D in Asean," he said.
About 34 per cent of the budget this year is going to outside institutions, as the company seeks collaboration for better products.
Staying ahead in terms of innovation requires strong leadership. Companies need to know that they have to compete with companies in other countries like China and this would be strengthened by innovation.
Without their own intellectual property rights, Asean companies end up paying a hefty fee to non-Asean companies. Thailand has forked over about Bt250 billion in annual fees in the past 10 years. This stirs the need among the private sectors across Asean to collaborate more.
"The AEC (Asean Economic Community) is coming. In five to 10 years, the AEC will be a bigger bloc. We have to get together and be strong. Innovation will be the key for the future," he added.