Fiberglass firm sets trend in product customization

With the increasing construction projects in the world market these days, players in the sector are now looking for more alternative materials that is worth the value for a long time investment in architectural designs, one of which is fiberglass.

To keep abreast with the growing demand for value-for-money construction pieces in the country’s construction sector, one of Cebu’s major player in the construction industry, A-One Fiberglass Products Manufacturing, now sees the need to come up with customized construction pieces.

“We opened up an architectural design division that will be devoted to serving local structural and interior design needs. This will make it a lot easier for architects and homeowners because they now can come to us with their own designs and we’ll make it for them,” said Richard Joseph Li, A-One’s Marketing and Sales Manager.

A-One Fiberglass used to focus 80% on export supplying countries with higher standards such as Japan and the US, but after it saw the local need and demand for customized fiber glass, they now operate 80% locally and 20% on export.

Li said that since China has a bigger fiberglass industry, they decided to develop their own niche wherein Chinese manufacturers cannot copy their designs, hence the creation of their very own customized designs.

“We used what we learned in our export experiences and applied it locally as we saw the need of doing local products at export quality level,” said Li.

Fiberglass according to Li can serve as an alternative or a substitute for different kinds of materials such as steel, wood, rock, metal and among others. These characteristics he said make fiber glass a more preferred construction material especially for pieces that needs intricate designs and architectural patterns.

In Manila, Li said that most establishments already utilize fiberglass and even abroad he said that it is being widely used to substitute a lot of materials and complement structural designs of establishments and interiors like in Las Vegas, the casino capital of the world. 

A-One can create fiberglass pieces for lighting, fixtures, furniture, interiors, walling, motor parts, architectural and other construction needs with different finishing. They can create bamboo or metal-like fixtures, antique-looking jars, big round electric chandeliers, or grottos from fiberglass.

Li said that in about five or 10 years ago fiberglass had limited uses such as chairs and furniture. But with today’s latest innovation, fiberglass can now be used in architectural designs, which is a big leap for our domestic construction industry since architects will no longer have difficulty in acquiring construction pieces that fits and complements their projects’ structural designs.

“We want to set the trend in the industry and be one step ahead while there are still only a few players in this field,” said Li. – Rhia de Pablo