COMPANY ANALYSIS

RESPACK MANUFACTURING SDN. BHD.

TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP (ENT600): CASE STUDY

FACULTY : FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

PROGRAMME : BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS.) APPLIED CHEMISTRY

SEMESTER :5

PROJECT TITLE : RESPACK’S PLANT NURSERY BAG

NAME : MEOR MUHAMMAD SYAFIQ AIZAT BIN MUSTAFA

STUDENT ID : 2018400386

LECTURER : DR. SHAFIQ SHAHRUDDIN

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of “Allah”, the most beneficent and merciful who gave me strength, patience and
inspiration to complete this case study report for Fundamentals of Technology
Entrepreneurship (ENT 600) subject. Upon completion of this case study written report, I would
like to express my gratitude to many parties that had directly or indirectly helped me to fulfil
this assignment.

A special thanks to my lecturer Dr. Shafiq Shahruddin for giving me abundance of advice,
outstanding attitude, the guidance and patiently keep updating information from time to time
on the changes of this subject during this COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, I would like to
convey my thanks to Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD., which provide me the opportunity
to choose this company as my project.

I also deeply thankful to my classmates and beloved family for their ongoing support,
encouragement and helping me in finishing this case study assignment.

Meor Muhammad Syafiq Aizat Bin Mustafa

 TABLE OF CONTENT

PAGE
TITLE PAGE i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii
LIST OF FIGURES iii
LIST OF TABLE iv
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY v

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of The Study 1
1.2. Problem Statement 1
1.3. Purpose of The Study 1

2. COMPANY INFORMATION
2.1. Background 3
2.2. Organizational Structure 5
2.3. Products / Services 6
2.4. Technology 8
2.5. Business, Marketing, Operational Strategy 8

3. COMPANY ANALYSIS
3.1. SWOT 11

4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1. Findings 15
4.2. Discussion 17

5. RECOMMENDATION AND IMPROVEMENT 18

6. CONCLUSION 20

7. REFERENCES 21

8. APPENDICES 22
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Caption Page

2.1 Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD. 3

2.2 CK Wan Managing Director 4

2.3 Staffs of Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD. 4

2.4 The Organizational Structure of Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD. 5

2.5 Respack Manufacturing Facebook Account 9

2.6 Respack Manufacturing Company Website 9

Example of Proposed “Doos Mâché Pot Infused with Insect

5.1 19
Repellent”
 LIST OF TABLE

Table Caption Page

2.1 Product / Service Provided by Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD. 6

3.1 SWOT Analysis 11

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Respack Manufacturing is a local company which focusing on the plastics packaging

manufacturer. In this company analysis, it is focussing on the plant nursery bag that is
produced by the Respack manufacturing to be investigate, identified and analysed along with
their current problems and come out with solutions.

The first problem regarding their product is a non-biodegradable plant nursery bag. As we
know, non-biodegradable product is the product that is not easily decomposed over time and
brings negative impact to the environment when unused especially when dumping at the
landfills. It contains various harmful chemicals which can pollutes our environment as it is
highly toxic. As for the next problem is their product contains manufacturing defects. These
defects are coming from three factors such as poor quality of raw materials used, human errors
in which they are incompetent, unexperienced and unskilled to that field, and failure of
equipment and machineries due to overheating, 24/7 usage and without proper checking and
maintenance from the operators.

Aside from that, there a few solutions to that problems primarily are do innovation, Research
& Development and alter their raw material (polyethylene) with a new alternative such as using
non-woven fabric material. This is due to the non-woven fabric that are eco-friendly,
biodegradable, lightweight and convenient to use as plant nursery bag. The next solutions are
to do inspection and strict quality control before marketing the product. Inspection should be
schedule at least once per month to maintain and repair any break down of machines.
Respack Manufacturing also should hire more quality control staffs to check only the good
product without any defects to be sold to the customers. All of these solutions are considered
to aid Respack Manufacturing in producing very quality product to be served to their customers
in order to sustain their business growth, developments and more achievements ahead.
 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of The Study

Agriculture is the science or art of farming, including the planting of soil for the production of
crops and the nurture of animal’s food, wool and other products. It is done worldwide and we
using a lot of agricultural products every day, from the clothes we put on in the morning to the
sheets we sleep in at night. Humans had developed agriculture during the Neolithic period or
the Modern Stone Age, which existed between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago. Eight Neolithic
crops were produced: emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, hulled barley,
chickpeas and flax. The Neolithic period had ended with the introduction of metal tools. Until
now, agricultural sector is evolved with the vast technologies to make ease and promoting
larger production of crops produced during harvest. One of the technologies they used is the
plant nursery bag for seedling of plants or crops. Hence, today, many companies are
producing plant nursery bag intended to be used by the agricultural and plant nursery sectors
to plant their plants. This plant nursery bag is mainly produced from the polymerization of
synthetic polyethylene which make it a non-biodegradable product. Due to its properties of
single-use bag has make its number growing from time to time uncontrolled which eventually
affecting our environment. Plant nursery bag brings many harmful effects rather than its
benefits.

1.2 Purpose of Study

The purpose of this case study is to investigate, identify and analysed the company-based
product, their problems and proposed solutions regarding their problems. By doing this, I can
study the window of opportunity to exploit the markets with new advancement product to see
whether the new product can be commercialized or not.

1.3 Problem Statement

With technology continuing to push ahead at a fast pace, people are starting to aware
regarding the impact of non-biodegradable products on the environment. The word non-
biodegradable applies to polymers that do not break down biological processes to a normal,
environmentally sustainable state over time. Many plastics are non-biodegradable primarily
because they are commonly used due to their low expense, flexibility and durability. This
durability is partially dependent on the assumption that plastic is an uncommon target for

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microbes, which renders it non-biodegradable. This specifically focused on the agricultural,
farming and plant nursery sectors as they use polybag or known as plant nursery bag that is
extensively applied in seedling of plants. Plants nursery bag is synthetically constructed of
polyethylene and is a non-biodegradable material. It tends to stay in a longer period of time
without being decomposed easily and the amount keeps increasing day by days. This is
because plant nursery bag is a single-use purpose in which it will be just thrown away onto
the landfills or directly onto the ground. The landfills will be occupied with the plant nursery
bag in large amount and resulting negative impact to the environment as they are composed
of many toxic chemicals. Burning of the plant nursery bag produces other greenhouse gasses
and poisonous emissions and may often cause respiratory issues. So, many strategies or
options can be considered to solve this situation over a prolonged period of time.

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 2. COMPANY INFORMATION

2.1 Company Background

Respack Industries was established in January 2011 owned by Mr C. K. Wan. At first, the
company started off in the distribution and marketing of plastic resin and additive, and plastic
recycling. The company then formed a joint venture with Prior Packaging, Australia, to form
Respack Manufacturing for the production of wide web extrusion. On the next year, Respack
Manufacturing expended its capacity with new extrusion facilities to produce films with width
of up to 7 meters layflat. It went on to acquire a new manufacturing plant with the size of 800,
000 sq. ft that is located in Sungai Petani, Kedah (headquarters). It is then continued to expand
in the blown film manufacturing plant by adding various bag making and converting machines.
Soon in 2013, the company ventured into the production of specialty blown films and bags,
catering to the Industrial, Agriculture and Food Industry. In the year 2016, the company
establishes two strategic partnership with DWJ Masterbatches from Dongguan, China and
with Ralco, a Malaysian public-listed manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging in respect to
manufacture of black, colour and additives masterbatches and the production of eco-friendly
packaging, catering products made from biodegradable & compostable, recycled, or oxo-
degradable materials, respectively. Until now 2020, the company is operating at their full
capacity with the latest addition of new technology that is being fully utilised in preparing a
journey of new surprises and opportunity ahead. The company also had successfully
expanded its branches through Malaysia; Respack Polyfilm SDN. BHD., Respack Polychem
SDN. BHD., Respack Industries SDN. BHD., Respack Recycling SDN. BHD. and Ralco
Respack Polybag SDN. BHD.

Figure 2.1 Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD.

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 Figure 2.2 CK Wan Managing Director

Figure 2.3 Staffs of Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD.

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2.2 Organizational Structure

HR / Admin
Executive
SITI AISYAH
RASLA

Sales Manager
LIM TEIK
CHUAN
(KENNY) Customer
Service
Executive
CHAI LEE CHIN
Head of
Customer Customer
Service Manager Service Manager
SF NG Customer
Managing Service
Director Executive
CK WAN YONG SIAO
FONG
Maintanance
Manager

Maintainance
Officer
TIOW SIONG
Quality LAI
Assurance
Manager
Quality
Assurance
Officer
Head of NORASHIKIN BT
Production Production ABD MANAF
Manager JEYENDRAN
KOBALAN

Figure 2.4 The Organizational Structure of Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD.

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2.3 Products / Services

Table 2.1 Product / Service Provided by Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD.

TYPE OF PRODUCT / CLASSIFICATION OF

DESCRIPTION
SERVICE PRODUCT / SERVICE

For hand or machine

applications, from
conventional grades to the
latest breakthroughs in cast
film technology, RaptorTM
pallet wraps are the evident
solution to secure customer
• Hand Stretch
loads at the lowest cost per
Films
wallet wrapped. With different
• Machine Stretch
grades of stretch films
Films
representing different
• Specialty Stretch
application of it. Here are the
Films
characteristics of a good cast
wrap; high tensile strength,
Stretch Film high puncture resistance,
percentage of stretch ability,
high gloss and clarity, holding
/ retention power and greater
value of money.

Respack Manufacturing
expertise in polyethylene
formulations and blown film
• Markets Served
extrusion to cover customer
• Processing
needs with custom-made
Capabilities
protective packaging, bags
and sheets in LDPE, MDPE
or HDPE. They offer flexible
solutions to a wide range of

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 industries; Food, Industrial /
Flexible Packaging Manufacturing, Specialty,
Construction, Agriculture
(plant nursery bag),
Consumer / Retail and
Logistics.

• Bio-based
Respack Manufacturing’s
Polyethylene
eco-friendly bags and liners
• Biodegradable
are made from biodegradable
and Compostable
and compostable
Packaging
biopolymers, recycled resins
• Oxo-Degradable
or with oxo-degradable
Products
additives.
• Recycled
Eco Packaging
Products

• nBatchTM – Colour
Respack Manufacture share
Masterbatch
their expertise in colorants
• nHanceTM – White
and additives for polymers
Masterbatch
and produce a broad range of
• nRichTM – Black
masterbatches carefully
Masterbatch
formulated to meet most of
• nValueTM –
plastic manufacturer’s
Calcium
requirements.
Carbonate Filler
Masterbatch
• nPowerTM –
Masterbatch Dessicant
Masterbatch
• nPowerTM –
Additive
Masterbatch

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2.4 Technology
In order to produce the best quality products of polyethylene, Respack Manufacturing uses
full range of advanced equipment that capable to deliver operating on customer’s needs in
polyethylene flexible packaging. Their polyethylene bags and sheets are designed according
to the highest standards and technologies in today’s market. They use several processes such
as extrusion, converting, printing and slitting/rewinding in the production of polyethylene. Apart
from technology, Respack believe innovation is one of the highest values a manufacturer can
offer and always looking for new creative ideas to make their client’s lives easier. This
translates their constant investment in Research & Development, equipment and
infrastructure. Their experts attend the most important international packaging and plastic
trade shows to stay updated on the industry’s trend and to refresh their knowledge of the
packaging machinery used by their customers. They also work only with the world’s most
renown suppliers, which allow them to adopt the latest improvements in polymer research and
film extrusion technologies. Furthermore, in 3 years only, their stretch wrap’s quality has
already caught up with the world’s most advanced products on the market and in 2017, they
have launched 2 new products and filed a first patent for their perforated stretch film. These
efforts towards providing creative innovation have set the standard for performance, quality,
value and consistency.

2.5 Business, Marketing and Operational Strategy

2.5.1 Business Strategy

Business strategy is a collection of strategic steps and behaviour that a company uses to gain
clients, succeed effectively, improve efficiency and meet operational objectives. It defines how
the enterprise will be carried out in order to achieve the intended ends. Every company will
have their own business strategy including Respack Manufacturing. They have built an
excellent momentum of growth and have prepared the company for a brighter future by placing
the highest level of commitment in the development of their human resources, developing,
training and rewarding their people, providing equal opportunity and cultivating the passion for
excellence in everything they do. They also specifically focussing to deliver consistently high-
quality products and exceptional service to their customers as they can count on Respack as
a stable partner that provides predictable results to benefit customer’s business.

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 2.5.2 Marketing Strategy

Respack Manufacturing utilizes social networking as one of its communications tools by

setting up a page on Facebook. Social networking is considered as one of the most valuable
platforms of advertisement industry because they would be able to target consumers with no
barriers on regional considerations around the globe. Other than that, Respack Manufacturing
also focused on their official website as an alternative to their marketing. Company website is
an important aspect of a broader marketing strategy because consumers may gain knowledge
regarding the company’s operations and the goods sold before they purchasing it. This will
help Respack Manufacturing to achieve a high percentage of sales.

Figure 2.5 Respack Manufacturing Facebook Account

Figure 2.6 Respack Manufacturing Company Website

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 2.5.3 Operational Strategy

The Respack Manufacturing operating strategy is not provided on the basis of propriety client
details. However, a brief overview regarding their operational strategy can be seen at their
organisational level. Mr. CK Wan is the Managing Director at Respack Manufacturing in which
his role is to direct and control the all business operations. He is also responsible to give
specific guidance and direction to the board to ensure that the company achieves its financial
vision, mission and long-term goals. In addition, Respack Manufacturing consists of several
managers who monitor the development cycle and deliver good services to consumers. The
Human Resource/Admin Executive, Ms. Siti Aisyah Rasla, she is responsible for recruiting,
training, interviews, selection of staff and manage salary processing to ensure smooth office
operations. The Sales Manager, Mr. Lim Teik Chuan, he is responsible of the inventory of
Respack Manufacture’s new warehouse in Selangor, recruits new customers and makes sure
orders are delivered in due time. The Head of Customer Service, Ms. SF Eng assisted by two
Customer Service Executive, Ms. Chai Lee Chin and Ms. Yong Siao Fong, they need to advice
customers, proceed orders, coordinates with production and arranges swift shipments. The
Maintenance Officer, Mr. Tiow Siong Lai, he is responsible to repair machinery, equipment
and building systems to ensure production process at the optimum rate. The Quality
Assurance Officer, Ms. Norashikin Bt Abd Manaf, she is responsible of analyses and tests,
and she makes sure customer’s requirements are always met. Lastly, the Head of Production,
Jeyendran Kobalan, his mission is to monitor factory’s inventory, output and quality control, to
plan operator’s and machines schedules and to synchronize the efforts of the different
divisions of the factory. All of them show respect for and value all individuals for their diverse
backgrounds, experiences, styles, approaches and ideas to work together as one to put the
company forward as one of the strongest manufacturers in the country.

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 3. COMPANY ANALYSIS

Table 3.1 SWOT Analysis

STRENGTH (+) WEAKNESS (-)

1. Plant nursery bags are made from 1. Some manufacturing defects on the
recycled products. produced product.

2. High quality assurance certified ISO 2. Offensive odour (strong chemical odour).
9001:2015 by SGS and UKAS
3. Production rate over targetted rate is not
3. Received numerous industry awards achieve by the company to fulfill customer's
(Malaysia Top Business Excellence Award demand.
2016, SME Innovation Exjcellence Award
2018, etc).

4. Staffs are experts in their own fields,

customer-oriented and dedicated to
performance.

SWOT

OPPORTUNITY (+) THREAT (-)

1. Can be the fastest growing manufacturer 1. Competitors on the same sectors /

in producing the best solution available with industries that produce plant nursery bags.
today's materials science and polythene
extrusion technology.
2. Price wars with competitors.
2. Branding by collaborating with the
Department of Agriculture Malaysia (DoA) in 3. Difficult to commercialize the product
respect to provide plant nursery bags to locally or internationally due to COVID-19
SMEs agricultural. outbreak.

3. Special funds by the Goverment in

between RM100,000 and RM200,000 to
each viable Area Farmers Organization and
Area Fishermen's Association to develop
short-term agricultural projects that can
produce results within 3 to 6 months due to
COVID-19 outbreak.

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A SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat) analysis is a method used to
determine the competitive role of an organization and to establish a strategic strategy. The
SWOT model assesses all internal and external factors, as well as present and future prospect.
It includes a realistic, fact-based, data-driven look at the strengths and weakness of an
organization, its policies or the industry. The organization such as Respack Manufacturing
needs to keep the analysis accurate by eliminating pre-conceived biases or grey zones by
relying solely on real-life situations. Companies should use it as a reference, not simply as a
prescription. After chosen Respack Manufacturing as my subject for the case study company
analysis, I have identified the SWOT analysis for the company and the results are as follows:

3.1 Strength

One of the products that is made from recycled commodity (recycled plastics and resins) is
plant nursery bag. The difference between plastic and resin is in terms of their raw materials.
Resin is more of a natural origin as it is produced directly from the plant oozes whereas the
plastic is the synthetic or semi-synthetic polymeric nature. Respack Manufacturing is looking
forward with the solutions on current issues regarding the impact of polyethylene products on
the environment. Thus, they come out with those idea in respect to conserves energy and
natural resources, saves landfill space, reduce dependency on plastics prices and improve
your bottom line. Besides that, Respect relentlessly ensures all products are manufactured
with utmost care and total commitment to the highest quality. All team members are well-
trained to deliver products that exceed customer’s expectations. In the production floors, their
strong quality control procedures regulate the monitoring of all quality indicators 24/7. Through
each plant, the extruders are equipped with completely automatic control systems. They
monitor input raw material and film thickness, thereby reducing waste and human error, thus
ensuring the constant consistency of their products. Due to the strict procedure of the
processes, Respack Manufacturing’s company was certified as high-quality assurances by
ISO 9001:2015 by SGS and UKAS.

Apart from that, Respack Manufacturing receives numerous awards: SMEs Best Brands
Manufacturing Flexible Plastic Packaging Award 2020, Star Outstanding Business Award,
SME Innovation Excellence Award 2018, Sin Chew Product Excellence Award 2016, 2017 &
2018, SME Corp Enterprise50 Award 2017, Platinum Business Awards 2016, and Malaysia
Top Business Excellence Award 2016. All of these are due to the constant investment in
Research & Development, equipment and infrastructures by the Respack Manufacturing to
fulfil the future needs. Lastly, the staffs in Respack Manufacturing are experts in their own
fields, customer-oriented and dedicated to performance. This is because Respack

12
Manufacturing provides quality training for each of their staffs depending on department and
they encourage employees to speak up if something does not feel right or does not align with
the values and to seek guidance when in any doubt.

3.2 Weakness

Even though the company have many strengths, it still cannot run from having any
weaknesses. The weakness from this company is firstly some manufacturing defects on the
product produced. No matter how modern and powerful the technology is, product defects is
possible to happen during manufacturing. This may due to the faulty of the machines when
operating too long continuously without being regularly inspections to identify faulty equipment
and perform repairs. This will reduce the product quality against the original quality and makes
the customers unsatisfied with the product served. The product may have imperfect shape
and dimension, less elastic, less durability and get adhere or clump into each other. The
second weakness is offensive odour (strong chemical odour) produce from the plant nursery
bag. The plant nursery bag is made from polyethylene (lightweight and durable thermoplastic
with variable crystalline structure) which widely used in the making of various plastics. When
the product is store under room or warm temperature, it will produce intense odour that is
unpleasant to the person who inhale it. Sometimes the person may experience breathing
difficulties or headache following inhalation for a longer time due to the accumulation of higher
concentration of chemicals present in the surroundings. Polyethylene not only bad for our
environment but can be highly dangerous (toxic) to people, which are also classified as single-
use plastics, which may leak when exposed to UV, heat and over time form natural breakdown.
The last weakness is production rate over targeted rate is not achieve by the company to fulfil
customer’s demand. This may arise from the unstable company’s financial, problem
regardless raw materials supplied and machineries failure. At the end, the company cannot
hit their targeted rate production per months or per year which will lessen the company’s profit.

3.3 Opportunity

Any opportunities need to be exploited by Respack Manufacturing to resolve their weaknesses.

One of the opportunities is it can be the fastest growing manufacturer in producing the best
solution available with today’s material science and polythene extrusion technology. Respack
Manufacturing deals with the modern and upgraded technology which enables them to
produce high quality products massively at a time. They also actively developing their products
based on Research & Development, equipment and infrastructures and working only with the

13
world’s most renown suppliers, which allows them to adopt the latest improvements in polymer
research and film extrusion technologies. They arrange professional conferences for their
customers, jointly with machinery and resin suppliers. This collaboration with all of their
partners places Respack in the best place to create innovative technologies for maximizing
film content quality, allowing their customers to save money and fulfil ever-increasing
standards through testing films and enhancing the product’s properties. The next opportunity
is branding their company’s name by collaborating with the Department of Agriculture Malaysia
(DoA) in respect to provide plant nursery bags to the SMEs agricultural. Respack
Manufacturing can be the main sponsor during the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang
that is held every year. They can open booth for their company to provide information in details
and visualize their product directly (plant nursery bag) to the SMEs agricultural and giving free
plant nursery bags to them. By this way, it is one of the marketing strategies to attract more
readily customers into newly customers and make Respack Manufacturing to be well-known
among the SMEs agricultural in Malaysia. Hence, increasing the plant nursery bags demands
per month together with profits. The last opportunity is special funds by the Government in
between RM100,000 and RM200,000 to each viable Area Farmers Organization and Area
Fishermen’s Association to develop short-term agricultural projects that can produce results
within 3 to 6 months due to COVID-19 outbreak. During this COVID-19, the farmers are hardly
to find or buy the plant nursery bags from the nearest store to seedling their crops due to the
Movement Control Order (MCO) by Government. Thus, Respack Manufacturing can take this
chance to become one of the companies that sell the plant nursery bags to the farmers with
low or affordable price with fast delivery services.

3.4 Threat

The possible threat facing by the company is the competitors on the same sectors/industries
that produce plant nursery bags. There are more than one company who sell the same product
as Respack Manufacturing do. This can be their threat when the competitors sell the plant
nursery bags with a cheaper price to the customers. This is known as price wars among the
competitors and this the second threat that will be faced by the Respack Manufacturing.
Difference in price will make the customers to choose or buy the plant nursery bags from the
company which offer with lower price. The last threat is the product is difficult to commercialize
locally or internationally due to COVID-19 outbreak. At this time, this will be limitation on the
company to deliver their product due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) and the
international shipment has been shut down for a while. This will make Respack Manufacture
to experience financial deficit.

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 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Findings

4.1.1 Issue/Problem 1: Plant Nursery Bag is Non-Biodegradable

Although Respack Manufacturing is actively engaged in innovating its products in an

environmentally sustainable manner especially for biodegradable products, they only excel in
doing that with other polyethylene products such as biodegradable plastic grocery bags. Until
now, no Research & Development has been carried out by Respack Manufacturing to produce
biodegradable plant nursery bags. Despite, they only produce plant nursery bags from
recycled products such as recycled plastics and resins to conserve waste volume, electricity
and natural capital. Generally, plastic items such as plant nursery bag take up to 1000 years
to decomposed in landfills. Yet the plastic bags we use in our everyday lives require 10-20
years to decompose, whilst the disposal bottles require 450 years. Thus, it will stay in the
environment for several years to come without being decomposed. Furthermore, to be more
specific, plant nursery bag is made from the polymerization of ethylene monomer in which
when heated up in the presence of a catalyst, each chemical unit binds ethylene monomers
by creating incredibly tight carbon-carbon bonds. This results in long chain polymers namely
polyethylene. It is lightweight, durable and thermoplastic with variable crystalline structure. It
is also non-biodegradable in nature and contribute significantly to the production of plastic
waste products worldwide especially in the sector of agricultural, farming and plant nursery. It
is said to be non-biodegradable because it is produced synthetically in which such compounds
do not degrade quickly even by the operation of natural agents like microbes (eg: bacteria,
fungi and many more). The problems that may arise from the non-biodegradable waste
products are sometimes mistaken for food by animals and end up chocking to death, clogging
of drains, pollution (air, water, land), biological magnification of hazardous substances and
continue consume space in landfills. Many of the products are often made up of other
dangerous substances that are harmful to human and animal safety. This is because plastic
polymers are not considered to be toxic, but toxic residual chemicals, chemical additives and
degrading products which may leak out because they are not bound to plastic monomers.
Resulting in the process of photodegradation which breaks down into smaller and fewer toxic
particles to the surroundings. In a quick overview, it may be assumed that non-biodegradable
products are not eco-friendly to the environment as it brings more harmful at the end of the
day than its benefits.

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 4.2.2 Issue/Problem 2: Some Manufacturing Defects on The Product Produced

Defective product is an imperfection in a product that has a manufacturing or design defect

which is defective due to incorrect directions which alerts. Since a manufacturing defect is
unplanned or unintended, there should be just a limited number of goods with identical fault.
A product is in a defective state because it is unreasonably harmful to the manufacturer or to
the buyer who consumed the product and induces damage. When a manufacturing defect
resulted in injuries, the firm producing the product can be responsible for legal penalties.
Although not all faulty goods are harmful, inadequate products may also lead manufacturers
to lose money. There are three growing sources of manufacturing defects. For one example,
whether the raw materials used to produce anything are of low quality, the finished output
would remain the same. Human error is the second source. If the person putting the product
together is reckless, fairly unskilled or inexperienced, the product is likely to be faulty. The last
source is the malfunction from the equipment or machinery used due to the overheating, overly
used 24/7 and without proper maintenance taken by the company. This source of
manufacturing defect is very dangerous when it comes to defects in large-scale equipment
and machinery which will transform a typical working day into a deadly scenario for operators
and surrounding employees. Unfortunately, incidents involving faulty appliances and
machines can have serious effect such as workers are hit or stuck in pieces or machinery,
fire/explosions and toxic chemical exposure. All these sorts of arising problems will limit or
reduce the normal production of plant nursery bags by Respack Manufacturing and makes
their readily or new customers unsatisfied with the product served. These product defects can
be in term of their imperfect shapes, dimensions, adhere to each other’s, less durability and
less elastic. Thus, loss in trust and interest from their customers and leads to their monthly or
yearly profitable that will gradually decrease and leads to massive losses.

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4.2 Discussion

4.2.1 Suggested solution for issue/problem 1

Do some innovation, Research & Development and substitute the readily raw material
(polyethylene) into material that is easily degrade.

Get active in innovation and Research & Development with their expert in chemical
technologist staffs to produce a high-quality biodegradable plant nursery bag. Another option
is substitute or change the current raw material used (polyethylene) with another material such
as non-woven fabric material. This will create a breathable, lightweight, safe, healthy, easy
and convenient to use plant nursery bag. It is also can be melted easily in water and soil, high
seedling survival, fast growth, eco-friendly and it can directly plant the plant without removing
the bag during the transplant process. Hence, minimize the consumption time and no waste
produced for the agricultural and farmers.

Advantages : Eco-friendly product that is biodegradable and uniquely different from

current product and other markets.

Disadvantages : Need time to find the best solutions and costly.

4.2.2 Suggested solution for issue/problem 2

Do inspection and strict quality control before commercialize the product.

Make a schedule to inspect all the equipment and machineries at least once a month to check
whether they are in a good condition or not. If not, conduct repairs to prevent any further
problems and to optimize the production run smoothly. Inspection machines shall comprise
manual, mechanical and computerized equipment testing products, containers or packaging
parts to insure they conform with the standard. Respack Manufacturing also can double or
triple their quality control to strictly check the defects products before it is being
commercialized. This will help to ensure only the best of the best products are sell to the
customers to keep their standards.

Advantages : No more manufacturing product defects and secured customers.

Disadvantages : High maintenance and labour cost to pay.

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 5. RECOMENDATION AND IMPROVEMENT

Respack Manufacturing is one of the local established companies located in Sungai Petani,
Kedah. They offer broad range of plastic packaging products such as stretch films, shrink films,
polythene or biodegradable bags, sheets, covers and liners with the best customer-oriented
and dedicated to performance to serve their customers.

5.1 Major Problems

Based on the company’s study and SWOT analysis conducted, the main problems faced by
Respack Manufacturing are that their plant nursery bag is non-biodegradable and produces
offensive odour (strong chemical odour). With the current latest and modern technologies they
have, Respack Manufacturing should be able to produce a biodegradable plant nursery bag
without any strong chemicals odour that comes from it. It would be such a great added value
to their company if they were successful in doing so and will be a unique product than other
companies.

5.2 Alternative Solutions

The approaches that can be proposed for the treatment of the problems are using another
method and materials to produce plant nursery bag. I would like to propose boxes to be used
as the main material in producing the plant nursery bag, name as “Doos Mâché Pot Infused
with Insect Repellent”. The objective is to save the environment by reused the old boxes to
make a degradable pot for planting. The reason why I choose box is because it is one of the
materials that is easily degrade or has biodegradable properties. The mean of biodegradable
is that a substance or object is ready to be broken down (decomposed) easily through the
activity of microorganisms and thereby avoiding pollution. The normal degradation time for a
box is three months after it is being used which is far faster than the degradation time for
polyethylene bag. Biodegradable items include agricultural waste, fabric, yarn, timber, human
and animal waste, industrial goods product on renewable resources such as paper, box and
vegetable-oil soaps. Any kinds of materials that has the following properties, we should
optimize their usage to the maximum level and want to show the variations of raw materials
that can be used to produce the plant nursery bag instead of using polyethylene. I also want
to infused my pot with insect repellent properties taken from natural remedies (eg: Pandan
leaves, Thyme, Rosemary, Lemon, etc) in order to help the seedling plants to grow healthy

18
and safe. This is because as we know during the seedling and germination process, it will
attract such insects such as aphids, parasites of caterpillars, Tachinid flies, parasitic mini-
wasps and bugs. They will feed on the stem, shoot and leaves which results in critical
damaged to the plant, make them stunted from growing, or even make them die. Hence, by
adding the insect repellent will make them away from the seedling plant due to the aroma
produced by the natural remedies. All the raw materials used in producing this pot are 100%
natural without adding any chemicals or any additives. I can say its safe, eco-friendly without
polluting our environment and time saving as the pot can be plant directed into the soil.
Normally, the pot will degrade inside the soil and no wastes are accumulates on top of the soil
as like polyethylene bags do. So, let’s make a change for a way better of life, support our
green products and with 3R (Reuse, Reduced, Recycle), we can conserve our nature.

Figure 5.1 Example of Proposed “Doos Mâché Pot Infused with Insect Repellent”

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 6. CONCLUSION

As for the conclusion based on the findings, Respack Manufacturing has the problem
regarding the plant nursery bag which is non-biodegradable. Generally, non-biodegradable
products will have issues concerning their decomposition time that is longer depending on the
type of plastic products. Thus, it will occupy the lands for a longer of time with its waste and
releasing toxic materials into the environment which can cause the land and water pollutions.
With the best advancement in technologies that Respack Manufacturing have, they should
create or innovate a new product which brings no impact to the environment. The second
problem that they facing is defects product during the manufacturing process. This occurs due
to the three factors which contributes to the manufacturing defects which are the raw materials
used to manufacture something was poor of quality, hence the overall production will stay the
same. The second factor is due to human error because that individual putting the products
together is incompetent, relatively unskilled or inexperience, so the product is likely to be
defective. The last factor is due to failure of appliances or machines used because of
overheating, overuse 24/7, and without sufficient servicing by the company. All these factors
need to take into account to ensure the smoothness of the operations to produce products
that free from defects.

The solution proposed for the issues arise is do some innovation, Research & Development
and change the current raw material used with something that is more biodegradable. Another
alternative for the raw material (polyethylene) is to use non-woven fabric material. This is due
to the properties of that materials have, which are eco-friendly, biodegradable, lightweight,
safe, easy and convenient to use as plant nursery bag. The second solution is do inspection
and strict quality control testing. Respack Manufacturing is a big company which produces
700 metric tons per month of their products. These massive amounts of productions can make
the machinery having problems that needed to repair. Thus, inspection is very important as to
check whether the equipment or machinery requires to be fixed or not and this should be done
schedule once per month. Remember prevention is better than cure. Improving their quality
control also is crucial in maintaining the quality of the products. With strict quality control, only
the best product will be chosen to be commercialized to the customers in order to keep their
promises to deliver only the best quality products. By doing this, Respack Manufacturing can
be one of companies which produce free-defects products.

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 7. REFERENCES

Harmful effects of polythene on human health and environment. Retrieved May 1, 2020, from
http://youngbites.com/newsdet.aspx?q=237302

History of Agriculture. Retrieved April 17, 2020, from

https://www.crestcapital.com/tax/history_of_agriculture

Industrial Packaging. Flexible Solutions. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from

https://respack.com.my/

Manufacturing Defect: Everything You Need to Know. Retrieved May 1, 2020, from
https://www.upcounsel.com/manufacturing-defect

Polyethylene (PE). Retrieved May 1, 2020, from https://omnexus.specialchem.com/selection-

guide/polyethylene-plastic

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 8. APPENDICES

Figure 2.1 Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD.

Figure 2.2 CK Wan Managing Director

Figure 2.3 Staffs of Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD.

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 HR / Admin
Executive
SITI AISYAH
RASLA

Sales Manager
LIM TEIK
CHUAN
(KENNY) Customer
Service
Executive
CHAI LEE CHIN
Head of
Customer Customer
Service Manager Service Manager
SF NG Customer
Managing Service
Director Executive
CK WAN YONG SIAO
FONG
Maintanance
Manager

Maintainance
Officer
TIOW SIONG
Quality LAI
Assurance
Manager
Quality
Assurance
Officer
Head of NORASHIKIN BT
Production Production ABD MANAF
Manager JEYENDRAN
KOBALAN

Figure 2.4 The Organizational Structure of Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD.

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 Table 2.1 Product / Service Provided by Respack Manufacturing SDN. BHD.

TYPE OF PRODUCT / CLASSIFICATION OF

DESCRIPTION
SERVICE PRODUCT / SERVICE

For hand or machine

applications, from
conventional grades to the
latest breakthroughs in cast
film technology, RaptorTM
pallet wraps are the evident
solution to secure customer
• Hand Stretch
loads at the lowest cost per
Films
wallet wrapped. With different
• Machine Stretch
grades of stretch films
Films
representing different
• Specialty Stretch
application of it. Here are the
Films
characteristics of a good cast
wrap; high tensile strength,
Stretch Film high puncture resistance,
percentage of stretch ability,
high gloss and clarity, holding
/ retention power and greater
value of money.

Respack Manufacturing
expertise in polyethylene
formulations and blown film
extrusion to cover customer
• Markets Served
needs with custom-made
• Processing
protective packaging, bags
Capabilities
and sheets in LDPE, MDPE
or HDPE. They offer flexible
solutions to a wide range of
industries; Food, Industrial /
Flexible Packaging
Manufacturing, Specialty,

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 Construction, Agriculture
(plant nursery bag),
Consumer / Retail and
Logistics.

• Bio-based
Respack Manufacturing’s
Polyethylene
eco-friendly bags and liners
• Biodegradable
are made from biodegradable
and Compostable
and compostable
Packaging
biopolymers, recycled resins
• Oxo-Degradable
or with oxo-degradable
Products
additives.
• Recycled
Eco Packaging
Products

• nBatchTM – Colour
Respack Manufacture share
Masterbatch
their expertise in colorants
• nHanceTM – White
and additives for polymers
Masterbatch
and produce a broad range of
• nRichTM – Black
masterbatches carefully
Masterbatch
formulated to meet most of
• nValueTM –
plastic manufacturer’s
Calcium
requirements.
Carbonate Filler
Masterbatch
• nPowerTM –
Masterbatch Dessicant
Masterbatch
• nPowerTM –
Additive
Masterbatch

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Figure 2.5 Respack Manufacturing Facebook Account

Figure 2.6 Respack Manufacturing Company Website

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 Table 3.1 SWOT Analysis

STRENGTH (+) WEAKNESS (-)

1. Plant nursery bags are made from 1. Some manufacturing defects on the
recycled products. produced product.

2. High quality assurance certified ISO 2. Offensive odour (strong chemical odour).
9001:2015 by SGS and UKAS
3. Production rate over targetted rate is not
3. Received numerous industry awards achieve by the company to fulfill customer's
(Malaysia Top Business Excellence Award demand.
2016, SME Innovation Exjcellence Award
2018, etc).

4. Staffs are experts in their own fields,

customer-oriented and dedicated to
performance.

SWOT

OPPORTUNITY (+) THREAT (-)

1. Can be the fastest growing manufacturer 1. Competitors on the same sectors /

in producing the best solution available with industries that produce plant nursery bags.
today's materials science and polythene
extrusion technology.
2. Price wars with competitors.
2. Branding by collaborating with the
Department of Agriculture Malaysia (DoA) in 3. Difficult to commercialize the product
respect to provide plant nursery bags to locally or internationally due to COVID-19
SMEs agricultural. outbreak.

3. Special funds by the Goverment in

between RM100,000 and RM200,000 to
each viable Area Farmers Organization and
Area Fishermen's Association to develop
short-term agricultural projects that can
produce results within 3 to 6 months due to
COVID-19 outbreak.

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Figure 5.1 Example of Proposed “Doos Mâché Pot Infused with Insect Repellent”

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