Page 20 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL7

Kan Trakulhoon, president and CEO of SCG.The era of selling cheap products is over. Companies that survive will be those that can sell niche products with better quality. It is about time that Thailand turned R&D into a pillar of the countrySCG is now among the few local companies with a high R&D budget – 4 billion baht last year, with plans for further annual increases.“We are little in this respect, compared to Germany’s Volkswagen, the company with the highest R&D budget in the world, US$13.5 billion. This is followed by Samsung and Intel.”In 2004, SCG spent just 40 million baht a year on R&D, with 100 employees involved. Now the number of R&D personnel has risen to 1,300.The 4 billion baht sum might look expensive but the returns are much higher. R&D has helped SCG create high value-added products (HVA) – better, different, more environmentally friendly products with lower production costs. Revenue from selling HVA quadrupled to 150 billion baht in 2013, from 38.8 billion baht in 2007.“The era of selling cheap products is over. Companies that survive will be those that can sell niche products with better quality,” said Mr Kan.R&D can be applied to various sectors, he noted. Italy, for example, spends a lot on R&D to improve product designs. R&D is not necessarily about scientists but about finding better means, management strategies and IT to improve standards and quality.“It is about time that Thailand turned R&D into a pillar of the country,” he said.For more information on Thai R&D, visit the STI website at stiic.sti.or.th.18 Elite+