Kinglai Group: Innovation in Action

The Kinglai Group is leveraging its R&D strength to develop a complete range of hygienic materials and equipment.

With a clear vision to make a name for itself in the pumps and valves industry, Kinglai Hygienic Materials Co., Ltd, also known as Kinglai Group, has come a long way since its inception in Taiwan in 1991.

Kinglai is now a vertically integrated manufacturer of hygienic products and machines. It offers the full gamut from raw materials to finished products – including assembly and testing. It mainly serves the food and beverage, biopharma, and semiconductor sectors.

Looking back, Kinglai has made strategic choices to become the outstanding company it is today. The company celebrates numerous milestones such as the opening of its vacuum electronics department in 1995 and moving its main office to Jiangsu Province, China in 2000. In 2011, the company was publicly listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. This was a significant step in the right direction because it provided resources for greater accomplishment. The company now is fully able to upgrade equipment and production capabilities, which in turn has led to the ability to serve different markets.

In 2018, Kinglai expanded into the aseptic packaging sector, by acquiring the Shandong Bihai Machinery Technology Co., Ltd, a leading Chinese manufacturer of aseptic carton filling machines and paper/AL/PE liquid food aseptic laminated packaging paper/accessory equipment.

“Shandong Bihai is a synergistic partner for Kinglai because it expands the group horizontally and allows Kinglai to provide enhanced services, reduced costs, and outstanding international competitiveness,” says Kinglai Group president, Daniel Lee.

Daniel Lee, president of the Kinglai Group

King of R&D

Kinglai’s focus on R&D has been essential to its success. The following statement capsulizes this strategy: “Kinglai is an innovation-driven company with multiple operation centers worldwide which are pursuing consistent quality and increased customer value.”  The food and beverage market, which accounts for the largest share of Kinglai’s business, is benefiting from this strong R&D effort.

“Improvement in food and beverage processing has always been our first priority, and careful attention has been given to exceed international food hygiene standards,” Mr Lee explains. “We are the first enterprise in China to utilize the automatic welding and installation technology. We work with the China Dairy Industry Association to promote ‘pipeline system automatic welding standards’ and are instrumental in promoting these international practices to the dairy industry. We established a traceability system that guarantees food safety and cleanliness, and we have won the trust and recognition from customers worldwide. The goal is to create safe food processing for all.”

Kinglai can provide a full range of hygienic products that comply with the quality and safety requirements of food and beverage (F&B) manufacturers, including those in the dairy and brewery segments. Available products range from tubing/fittings, different kinds of valves (butterfly valves, ball valves, check valves, sampling valves, diaphragm valves, change over valves, seat valves, and mix-proof valves), filters, magnetic filters, heat exchangers, mixing systems, vessels, and all kinds of pumps, (centrifugal pumps, self-priming pumps, shearing pumps, lobe pumps and double screw pumps). 

Guided by its global R&D experts, Kinglai regularly releases new pump and valve models as innovations to meet changing industry requirements. Besides its R&D teams, the company owns operation centers in the United States, India, Ireland, Taiwan, and other countries.

Products from Kinglai include tubing/fittings, valves,, filters, magnetic filters, heat exchangers, mixing systems, vessels, and all kinds of pumps, (centrifugal pumps, self-priming pumps, shearing pumps, lobe pumps and double screw pumps). 

Kinglai exceeds most international standards for hygienic materials including 3A, EHEDG, ASME BPE, CE/PED, ISO 9001, and ISO 14001.

Just released are the new S Series pump models that were developed in Kinglai’s R&D center in the US. According to Mr Lee, the upgraded S Series offers enhanced features in terms of high efficiency, lower energy consumption, and lower NPSH values. These pumps have a robust construction, a narrow gap (<0.5mm) between the impeller and cover, and handle products gently. Other features are easy maintenance, less downtime, and no dead spaces. The S series is also suitable for CIP and SIP. These pumps are electro-polished 1.4404/316Lstainless steel for outstanding corrosion resistance.

To further ensure the quality and consistency of its products, Kinglai sources its raw materials from the top suppliers and the manufacturing is completed in-house. The company purchases high quality sealing materials from AVK in Denmark, coils from Outokumpu in Finland and stainless steel products from Baosteel in China. All materials are traceable per international standards, assures Mr Lee.

KingLai Overseas Sales Team in HQ

Automated manufacturing

Planning ahead, Kinglai is prepared for high production demands.  This was demonstrated during the coronavirus outbreak in China. According to Mr Lee, capital investments in robotics is a strategic advantage and it adds to the efficiency of the company.

“Kinglai has been working on the ‘smart factory’ for years. Our robotized plant was highly beneficial during while reopening after the pandemic in February 2020,” says Mr Lee. “KingLai is now expediting the automation of its processes and is embracing new technologies such as 5G, IoT, etc.”  He adds that these technologies will also enable KingLai to provide its customers with higher precision products at more competitive prices.

Currently, all the pumps and valves are produced by a workforce of about 1,000. But as Kinglai continues to build its smart factory, it will rely even more on robotic technologies.

Kinglai expects its growth in the food and beverage, biopharma and semiconductor segments to continue. The company plans to boost its presence in the Southeast Asian region where the dairy and brewery markets are strong. It actively participates in online conferences and exhibitions, and other means to cooperate with regional distributors. The company excels at customer service and has sufficient stock, according to Mr Lee.

Why consider Kinglai? While there are many suppliers of hygienic pumps and valves, only Kinglai is a one-stop-shop that has the capability to deliver superior pumps, valves and hygienic fittings at competitive prices.

For more information on Kinglai and its products, you can check out this video: