Pushing the (plastic) envelope

Rod Chua, 28-year-old Operations head of Goldwings Stationery Products, strikes most people as a dynamic and innovative go-getter. His (and his brother Ken’s) youthful energy has proven to be quite beneficial to the continuing success of the company his parents built in 1978.

From the original Photo Mate photo albums, the company has since expanded its product offerings to include the ever-popular Adventurer Plastic Envelopes (that started in 1983), now generally acknowledged as the market leader. Adventurer Plastic Envelopes come in big and small sizes, with or without a handle, in plain white transparent or colored transparent, and in the kid-friendly Looney Tunes designs. (The Looney Tunes line features the Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird and Taz characters in colorful prints.)

"The Adventurer Plastic Envelopes line is our flagship product," Rod remarks. "It’s our bestseller."

Available in all 65 branches of National Bookstore nationwide (and now even in Shoemart Department Stores), Adventurer consistently ranks no. 1, not only in terms of popularity and brand recall but also in actual sales. For the company’s vibrant performance, Rod gives credit to the marked difference Adventurer Plastic Envelopes offer: durability at an affordable price.

The company, in fact, is a pioneer of sorts, having innovated with its plastic push lock and handle. "Unlike other brands with metal locks that often end up rusty, Adventurer offers a patented push lock and handle made from acetal or lightweight plastic," Rod explains.

The push lock is so hardy it can withstand several hits with a hammer, Rod proudly declares.

Continuous research and development is the secret of Adventurer’s incredible staying power in the market. Rod, in fact, recently flew abroad to check out the latest developments in push lock design and construction.

"We should always be on the lookout for new market trends," he points out. "We should always grow and develop. We should always anticipate the needs of our clientele." That, in fact, is the company’s slogan: "We are growing with you."

"In each stage of the customers’ life we have the perfect Adventurer product for them," Rod reveals.

You can very well say Adventurer is pushing the envelope in the school-supplies industry. The company achieves this by adhering to the Japanese work principle of Kaizen. "It means continuous improvement," Rod volunteers. "It’s actually from a Chinese word, kai-shen." He was introduced to the concept by a good friend from his alma mater, De La Salle University. "He was from Engineering and I was from Marketing," Rod recalls. "He told me I should’ve taken up Electrical Engineering instead so that I could improve the system, the work flow in our factory. Kaizen can help a lot, in terms of increasing efficiency and productivity."

Upon a friend’s suggestion, Rod purchased and perused the book Gemba Kaizen. "Gemba is another Japanese word, which means workplace," Rod expounds. "The book is about the continuous improvement of the workplace: lowering cost, but improving the product at the same time. Delegating more work to your employees, but, at the same time, enlightening them with additional knowledge." Rod applies the Gemba Kaizen philosophy in the Adventurer factory on a daily basis. It’s a culture of constant development, he intones.

Toward this end, Adventurer is looking into further expanding its present lines. Aside from Adventurer Plastic Envelopes, Photo Mate photo albums and the Stationery Gift Set, Goldwings also offers folder jackets, notebook jackets,and plain envelopes.

Goldwings is now mulling the possibility of going full-blast with its paper products line. As its initial offering, the company recently launched the Adventurer Spiral Notebook, a 6 x 8 1/2 inches, 80 leaves notebook geared toward high school and college-bound teenagers.

"Unlike other boring blue notebooks, the Adventurer Spiral Notebook is red with silver stripes," Rod relates. "The cover design itself will make it highly appealing to young people. As bonus, we also threw in an index page on which students can log in their school schedule."

Still with an eye for further growth, Rod is already planning to introduce other sizes of the Adventurer Spiral Notebook. "From late 2004 to early 2005, we will be launching other notebook sizes: 3 x 5 inches, 5 x 7 inches, 7 x 10 inches," Rod pipes in.

As thanksgiving to loyal patrons, Adventurer Plastic Envelopes will also be giving away free Ruler Bookmarks– in time for the opening of school year 2004-2005.

"It’s a ruler with conversion table and bookmark combined," Rod relates. "We’ve just printed out 300,000 copies for customers."

Once again, Adventurer Plastic Envelopes is on the cutting edge of marketing. Once again, it is pushing the envelope in the school-supplies and stationery market.