Japanese wall panel maker sets up Cebu headquarters

A Japanese wall panel manufacturer has made Cebu as its headquarter for local and global marketing, considering the good location of Cebu for exports and domestic trading.

Nakayama Technology Corporation (NTC), recently inked a partnership with a Cebuano-owned company Vineyard WallTech System Corporation, for the distribution of its products in the local market, as well as for exports.

NTC established a seven-hectare plant in the Philippines, three years ago in Digos, Davao del Sur, with a daily production capacity of 12,000 square feet of tiles, owing the cheaper labor cost here, as well as good supply of CAD (Computer Aided Designs) operators here.

NTC's EcoWall, high performance wall panels is now distributed in other countries like United States, Canada, Brunei, and New Zealand, through its Cebu marketing arm.

"We believe Cebu is a good testing ground for introducing a product. If a product will pass the Cebu market, it will surely hit other areas including abroad," said Thrilly Ezhel M. Penaso, Vineyard WallTech System product manager.

About 70 percent of the total production of its Digos plant is exported to Japan market, the remaining 30 percent is distributed in the local market, including other countries.

According to Penaso, Cebu is not just a good marketing site to promote a new product in the Philippine market, but also for exports as tourists, and foreign investors are growing in Cebu.

NTC's international marketing headquarter in Cebu was opened in January of this year, Penaso said.

NTC invested a P413 million for the establishment of its plant in Davao three years ago. Penaso said the first choice of the company was to put the plant in Cebu, but because of good quality of water in Digos, Davao, the company decided to locate the plant there.

The birth of the EcoWall series in 2003 ushered in a new direction for the company. NTC shifted its effort to "Direct Renovation" which includes designing, direct production, and the installation of the panels. It maintains strict quality standards by using only real granite stones for its tiles and the company continuously invests in research and development to maintain its standards in product durability and design versatility.

NTC started out as an exterior wall painting company servicing homes and offices in need of remodeling work. Its reputation for reliability, research and innovation has earned the support from its customers allowing the company to shift to full renovation of houses and buildings. This also spurred the company to eventually develop its own brand of brick and granite wall panels for its customers.

NTC's EcoWall products will be showcased in the upcoming 14th Construction Show Cebu at SM City Trade Hall set on June 2 to 5, 2006.

"We believe we can get wider marketing mileage in promoting here in Cebu as this is the center for local and international trade," Penaso concluded.