I
have always enjoyed visiting good companies to get more operational
details from the management or the person in charge. Since I spend most
of my time sitting in the office reading annual reports, it's a pleasure
for me to take a 'break' in between and see with my own eyes, how the
products are being manufactured.
This
round, I have chosen Spritzer. It is located in Taiping, Perak, a
roughly 2.5 hours drive accompanied by my father. If you don't already
know about Spritzer, here's a brief introduction. Spritzer is the most
integrated and largest bottled water producer in Malaysia mainly engaged
in the manufacturing and distribution of natural mineral water,
sparkling natural mineral water, distilled drinking water, carbonated
fruit flavored water, carbonated fruit flavored isotonic water, teas,
toothbrushes, preforms and packaging bottles.
Mr.
Sow Yeng Chong, the Group Financial Controller, welcomed us upon our
arrival and personally took us on a mini tour around the plant.
The
water sources are located directly behind Spritzer's factory. We had
the privileges to travel up the hill to see the water sources ourselves.
Each water source is locked in a mini brick-made room (I have no idea
how to describe it) so as to protect the water sources from pollution.
There are in total 8 approved Spritzer's water sources by the Ministry
of Health.
In
the manufacturing process, Spritzer buys PET resins to convert it into
preforms. In case you don't know what preforms are, please refer to the
image below.
The
preforms are then being enlarged into the plastic bottles that you see
everyday. The empty plastic bottles will be rinsed and sterilized before
clean water is being injected. Then, the bottles will be capped and
labeled before being packed and sent out to the distributors'
warehouses.
These processes are fully automated and only a few labors are
guarding the production lines. According to my estimation, it took less
than 5 minutes for a preform to be converted into end product. In fact,
Mr. Sow disclosed that Spritzer can produce about 27,000 bottles per
line per hour!
After
the plant visit, we sat down and discussed the company's prospects and
current operational details. Mr. Sow was very friendly and patient in
answering all of our questions. He certainly deserves our compliments.
That's
it! I hope that you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed sharing with you
all. Please feel free to leave your comments below. Thanks and enjoy
your day ahead!
SPRITZER (7103) - What I Learned From Spritzer's Factory Visit
http://www.valueinvestingstock.com/#!What-I-Learned-From-Spritzers-Factory-Visit/cour/5733e2140cf2c719ae284407
