Foam, mattresses maker gears up for expansion

CEBU, Philippines - Foam and mattresses manufacturer RGC Group of companies will be setting up at least eight manufacturing plants in the country in the next two years with a capital expenditure allocation of close to a billion pesos.

RGC Group, the maker of Uratex foam and mattresses brand, will set up plants mostly in Southern Philippine areas including General Santos City, two in Davao City, Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan, Tacloban, Butuan City, and Iloilo City.

In an interview with Cherry Wong-Tan, the company's marketing director, she said that the improving economy that brought about the rise of purchasing power among Filipinos is one of the primary factors that led the company to venture into massive expansion plan in the country. This move is also in preparation to guard its market hold in anticipation of the ASEAN integration.

Likewise, along with the tremendous growth of the real estate and construction sectors, the demand for foam, mattresses, and other related products pushed up the production growth of its existing 16 plants in 12 locations nationwide,

In Cebu, its plant is located in Mandaue City operating at a capacity of producing an average of 800 foam and mattresses a day.

Uratex Cebu general manager Frederick Y. Sow said that the Cebu plant is not only supplying the huge consumer market here, it also providing foam and mattresses requirement for institutional and industrial markets.

"We are always sensitive to what our Cebu customers and partners want, keeping in mind the overall picture of Cebu as a major economic player in the Philippines," said Sow.

Although Uratex, which is considered as a household brand of foam and mattress, is not threatened by the opening of the region-wide Asean Economic Community, she said the possibility of foreign companies setting up plants here would challenge the local manufacturers like RGC Group.

On the other hand, if no foreign foam manufacturing will decide to set up plants in the Philippines, local brands like Uratex, is confident to sustain market dominance, considering that these kinds of products are bulky and not cost efficient.

Established in 1968, Uratex has become the country's largest manufacturer of commercial and automotive polyurethane foam products. Uratex is the flagship brand of an even larger umbrella organization of the Group, namely; RGC Textile Manufacturing Corporation; Roberts Automotive and Industrial Parts Manufacturing Corporation: and Inoac Philippines, a joint venture with Inoac of Japan, and the RGC Foam Group composed of Polyfoam-RGC International Corporation, Multiflex RNC Philippines, Inc., and Polyflex Industries.

The foam business accounts for 70 percent of the company's total business.

Top executives of the RGC Group led by executive vice president William C. Lee are set to introduce a series of marketing activities for the Cebu market. — (FREEMAN)