(Adams International Ltd. implements hearty computers and strict
quality control procedures to meet climbing oriental leaf demand.)
The remote, arid, hot Isan, or northeast region of Thailand, isn't a
likely place for outdoor computer use. Certainly one wouldn't expect
to find laptops deep in the midst of a dusty tobacco buying session
there. Sensitive computers need pampering and most of all, air
conditioning, right?
Apparently not.
Adams International Ltd., a
joint venture between a Thai-Chinese family and U.S. based W.A. Adams
Co., asked its Action Computers division to do what seemed the
impossible: devise a computer system that will withstand heat, dust,
bumpy roads, possible power deficiencies and other pitfalls that would
ordinarily paralyze a computer.
Action came up with a compact bundle
of bytes that fulfilled all requirements. Last year, the system which
communicates in English and Thai, was used experimentally. This buying
season, it went into full production, with spectacular results. The
hearty laptops prompt rendered forms, carbon paper, ballpoint pens and
duplicate data entry obsolete.
"Before the computers it took
several months before harvesting to make ready all the details,"
explains Wing F. Chung, Adams International's managing director and
vice chairman. "Now it takes a matter of minutes (to
prepare)."
The buying process is simplified, as well. While
grades and weights are called out, information is quickly entered into
the laptops via color-coded keys. Each call is checked orally by the
operator. Duplicate data entry back at headquarters is unnecessary.
Farmers' payments are practically instantaneous. A computer printout
noting grade, weight, price and such is given to each farmer takes the
printout to a cashier's window, the cashier subtracts the farmer's
advance and he is paid.
Computerization couldn't have arrived at a
better time. The dry land of Isan is ripe for only one tobacco type-
the valuable Thai-Turkish oriental variety. Adams began growing
oriental there commercially in 1974. Its first plantings produced 50
metric tons of the small, aromatic leaves. Last year, Adams
International purchased 3,600mt from its farmers. This buying season,
which was well underway as this was written, the company expects to
buy about 6,500mt, about an 80 percent increase over last season.
Quality, rather than quantity, is Adams International's first
priority, Chung says. Ensuring quality is a management system which
has been fine-tuned over the years.
During July and August, farmers
are enrolled in "the program." They're given all they need
to grow oriental leaf tobacco on a credit basis, including seeds and
appropriate fertilizers and insecticides. Up to 40,000 farmers and
their families are Adams International oriental growers with nearly
8,090 hectares planted last year.
The company provides instruction
and advice throughout the growing process-from seedbeds to replanting
to harvesting to stringing. Farmers under Adams International's
supervision are taught to grade tobacco properly and pack each grade
in bales of 12 to 15 kilos, because of the delicate nature of the
tobacco. There are nine grades of Thai-Turkish oriental.
Village
inspectors some of Adams International's most productive and respected
oriental farmers are recruited to provide guidance to farmers in their
areas. Adams International supplies village inspectors with hands-on
teaching tools, such as wall calendars showing exactly what the farmer
needs to do with his tobacco crop during that month. Pictures
illustrate how to perform a task the right way, how to do it wrong and
how a farmer can tell the difference. Seed packet covers bear
pictorial instructions on how to make a seedbed.
Village inspectors also conduct field demonstrations with farmers on the farmers' land.
Head inspectors are selected from among the best village
inspectors, and station managers are singled out from among the best
head inspectors.
All of Adams International's oriental is exported.
Philip Morris approached the company in 1974 and advised that it would
buy all the top quality Thai-Turkish orient that the company could
produce, provided quantity and price are regulated to avoid violent
fluctuation. Today Philip Morris buys between 50 and 60 percent of the
crop, purchasing "the best quality tobacco we can produce."
Chung says.
Our tobacco is a good price and quality for
China," he says, "And their business ensures our survival as
a company."
"We'd like to increase the percentage of our
high grades. Philip Morris would buy more if we had more to their
standards. They set very high standards of quality," he says.
"Quality" is both subjective and objective, but in the final
analysis," you have to buy aroma."
"We have very
strict quality control procedures," Chung says, "Not all
farmers can do this job. It's so intensive. But if they can do this,
they're rewarded handsomely. If they follow instructions, they get a
good income."
Computerization comes into play when sorting the
productive farmers from the poor farmers, as well. by processing
information on its computers following the buying season, Adams
International identifies the best and poorest growing areas, their
respective productivity, qualities of tobacco grown in various areas,
which farmers are growing a good crop and which are not , which
inspectors are making progress and which are not.
"If farmers
don't do well for a few years, we eliminate them from the
program," Chung says. "It would take years to process all of
that knowledge without computerization."
The Isan project is a
"win-win situation for everyone involved," he says with
exuberance. Farmers earn a guaranteed income. The government earns
foreign exchange. Customers receive good quality. "And we make a
good profit," he says.
Company profits, however, are often
funneled back into the operation to accommodate expansion. For this
season, a new warehouse with 2,000mt storage capacity was constructed
and picking and destringing lines were doubled. "With the 80
percent increase (in crops) all processes were expanded," Chung
says. This year, living quarters for customers will undergo further
fine-tuning. Total investment last year reached about US$1 million. At
least US$500,000 will be invested this year.
"We look at profit
as a cost of doing business in the future," Chung says
philosophically. "Whatever profit there is has to be invested to
make the process better.
"As a company, we're committed to the
farmers," Chung says, adding that his company encourages crop
diversification. For example, during the early 1980s Adams
International developed hybridized tomato seeds. Today, some of the
company's farmers plant about 81 hectares of the plump fruit-about
10mt worth. Families plant a quarter of a hectare apiece.
"Hybridized tomatoes offer a good income," he says. "We
can look at ourselves as an agricultural-based company."
"Sometime in the future, we will be developing oriental hybrid
seeds," he says, for enhanced aroma and greater yields. "If
we can combine good yield and good quality in one plant, we'll all
profit, especially the farmer."
Oriental tobacco dominates
Adams International's production. Ten years ago, oriental composed
about 60 percent of its business. Now it commands 80 to 90 percent of
the firm's operations. The Thai-American joint venture is fortunate-it
has the government's blessing to buy, cure and export all oriental
tobacco in the region, excluding the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly's
operation there. The TTM outproduces Adams International by about
1,000mt currently. TTM uses its oriental leaf in domestic production.
"We still see a lot of room for improvement," Chung says,
particularly in the area of advanced education for farmers. "We
try to do as much as possible on whatever is controllable."
He chuckles. "Of course, we can't control the weather."
One suspects if weather control were possible, this progressive company would master the art.
