Vazbuilt launches joint venture project with OFWs

The growing popularity of pre-fabricated materials for housing and fencing has driven the demand for Vazbuilt’s products to a point where its plants cannot cope with the actual market demand.

As a result, Vazbuilt recently launched a joint venture project with private individuals specifically overseas Filipino workers to build factories for pre-fabricated materials in their respective areas.

Vazbuilt president and chief executive officer Edgardo Vasquez said he decided to get into joint venture partnerships to share his (technological) invention and to provide decent homes all over the country.

“Through such joint venture partnerships, I am able to increase my capacity and at the same time generate employment in areas where they put up the plants,” Vasquez said.

The joint venture partners are in charge of closely monitoring and protecting their jurisdiction from potential competitors, expanding the market in other areas through franchised distributors and addressing the needs for pre-fabricated materials in their respective areas.

“Since our hands are already full at the main office because Vazbuilt was awarded the fencing of the entire stretch of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), we are hard-pressed meeting the requirements so we use the plant capacities of our joint venture partners to supply the needs of NLEX,” Vazquez said.

Vazbuilt was founded in 1991 in Sta. Rosa, Laguna as a manufacturer of pre-fabricated materials for housing projects.

Vazquez pursued his pre-fab business using showrooms like the one he put up near P. Tuazon-EDSA which attracted a number of local and foreign visitors, particularly OFWs, who proposed to get into joint ventures with his company.

“We encourage Filipinos based abroad to pool their earnings of at least P1 million each up to P6 million to P8 million so they can put up their own factories which can produce panels, columns and beams (all required for low to medium cost homes and fences),” Vazquez said.

One joint venture partner in Pampanga was able to recover his investment in one and 1/2 years at current capacity of 20 to 30 houses per month. There are two joint ventures in Pampanga and Vazbuilt is now studying proposals for a joint venture project in Bicol, Cebu and Dumaguete.

Vazbuilt currently has five plants with a total capacity for 400 units of low and affordable houses a month.

According to Vasquez, the selling price of an installed concrete fencing ranges from P2,000 to P2,500 per linear meter while the price of uninstalled pre-fab fence is P1,500 per linear meter.

The entire NLEX perimeter fencing is being supplied by Vazbuilt plants from Norzagaray, Bulacan with a total capacity of 1.5 kilometers or 30 houses a month; San Pedro, 3.5 kms or 200 houses; San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, 3.5 kms or 120 houses and the joint venture plants in Angeles, Pampanga and Mexico, Pampanga, each with capacity of 1.5 kms or 30 houses for a total of 11.7 kms or 410 houses a month.

Vazquez’s joint venture partner in Mexico, Pampanga is Nestor Mangio, who uses a portion of his capacity for his Lakeshore Development project.

According to Vasquez, homeowners can assemble the panels, beams and columns by themselves (with instructional do it yourself manuals).

Vasquez said a 36 sq.m. house can be completed in only three months utilizing only six to eight workers while a bigger house measuring 100 sq.m. can be done in only six months with 10 workers.