Jason, one of the country’s furniture makers and exporters, considers his company’s FPRDI dryers and finishing spray booth the “heart and soul” of his business.  Without the FPRDI technology installations, we wouldn’t have reached this far,” he said.

Only six years in the business, the Iloilo-based Tribal Trends Industries Inc. (TTI) ships bamboo and wood cabinets and home furnishings to the US, Italy,, Japan and Taiwan.

After using FPRDI’s wet-filter spray booth and drying room, TTI doubled its production of resin coated wooden bowls as the facilities cut operating time and labor and production costs by half.  Unlike before, TTI can now continue its finishing and drying operations even during bad weather.

“I am able to deliver quality products on time,” Mr. Coo reported, “ and this has become my company’s edge over my competitors.  The international market is so strict, all it takes is one day delay in delivery for an exporter like me to lose a client.”

Mr. Coo described the other benefits he received from the Institute. “I followed the advice of FPRDI experts on how to protect my raw materials and my products suddenly became ‘bukbok’-free, a critical advantage for any bamboo-based manufacturer.  As we were able to address the pest problem, our production increased by 100% and employment by 70%.  Our products never get rejected – we have earned a reputation for making quality products.”