The development of insulators against heat and cold did not take place in Thailand until after World War II. The insulation materials known before that time were rice husks and plain sawdust, which were used to insulate brine tank of ice factories, cold storages and ice boxes for the preservation of food and water.
Later in 1950, insulators- -know merely as “Foam“ at the time- -were imported form Japan by a firm by the name of THAI SURELY CO., LTD., which specialized in the sale of refrigeration plants for use with ice factories and cold storages. The foam was unpopular, however, due to its high prices arising from the cost of transportation, which was, in turn, caused by the need for a large shipping space. As a solution to this problem, a foam-producing factory was established for the first time in Thailand, and the person responsible for the popularization of this material in various fields of the local industry is MR. PRASOM CHEWACHAMROEN, now reputed to be the first person who founded a company for the production of insulated panels in Thailand. A brief account of MR. CHEWACHAMROEN’s work career is as follows :
1960 - 1964:
Works for THAI SURELY CO., LTD. And opens the market for the local-made polystyrene foam. This paves the way for its popular use with cold storages, ice factories, railway refrigerators, water coolers, and aquarium -fish export containers, damage prevention packing and so on. The foam market has since expanded so rapidly that a countless number of foam-producing factories for various industrial use, notable as food containers, can now be found in every part of Thailand. Apart from foam production, the company is also the seller of “SURELY “brand ice - producing machines and cold storage plants from Japan.
1964 - 1970:
Works for F.E. ZUELLIG ( BANGKOK ) THAILAND LTD. which sells SABRO and SABRO-ATLAS refrigerating machines from Denmark. Mr. CHEWACHAMROEN pioneers the sale of refrigerating and flake ice producing machines and introduces their use to the fishery business. Before that time, no such machinery was sold in Thailand. Originally, the machines belonged to the 300 revolutions/minute type. But with the application of modern technology, their operating power was raised to 750-1750 rpm. The improvement has made the machines very popular until these days.
While concentrating on the refrigerating machines, Mr. CHEWACHAMROEN also finds time to study the technological progress of the anti-heat and cold insulation work. This has enabled him to have a good understanding of the on-going development of the insulation industry.
1970 - 1981:
Works for EKMAN CO., LTD. With a specific assignment to sell the STAL-ASTRA refrigerating machine, the ALFA-LAVAL food-producing machine and the FRIGO-SCANDIA I.Q.F. refrigerator from Sweden. He makes his name as the successful seller of the first refrigerator developed from the original piston to a screw compressor machine in Thailand. Mr. CHEWACHAMROEN’s successes with the said refrigerating machines and, later, with others used in dairy and fruit-juice production and flour and rubber-latex separator have ensured their subsequent popularity in Thailand.
During that time, contacts have also been made with COLD ROOMS PTY., LTD. Of Australia to act as its agent for the sale of its insulated panels to the cold storage industry in Thailand. But the result was not very successful.
In 1977: A producer of the machine for the production of insulated panels in Australia by the name of ISOWALL has approached EKMAN for co - operation in the display of its products in Thailand. EKMAN favorably responds to the offer, which eventually results in the two companies joint venture to open a local panel-producing factory. Mr. CHEWACHAMROEN is made GENERAL MANAGER and partner of the new deal and entrusted with the task of co-ordination in the fields of machinery installation and trial run, installation system training and management.
In 1978:
The factory begins a smooth run of the insulated panel production. Next comes a market planning to induce the various industries to change their use of the old insulated system in favor of new ones. The plan is successful, and Mr. CHEWACHAMROEN is credited with being the FIRST PERSON in Thailand to have introduced the anti-heat and cold insulators to the local industry and, at the same time, popularized their use until nowadays.
1981 - 1999:
Mr. CHEWACHAMROEN leaves his former jobs to run this own business by first starting an Insulated panel-producing factory. In the course of this, he has founded the following companies to serve his business purposes:
1981:
Founds ICE BITS CO.,LTD. In Bangkok to sell, import and export refrigerating machines and insulated panels.
1982:
Founds GREATWALL PANEL CO.,LTD. In Bangkok to produce GREATWALL brand insulated panels.
1988:
Founds GREATWALL (1988) CO., LTD. And moves the original factory from Bangkok to Pathumthani. The present factory and office has a total area of 16,000 square meters. To streamline operation, the two other companies, i.e. , ICE BITS and GREATWALL PANEL, are closed down and merged with the newly-established organization. To increase production capacity, an insulated panel continuous production line was imported from Australia.
1989:
Founds GREATWALL INSULATION CO., LTD. for the production of polystyrene blocks and sheets for use with insulated panels and for sale to the customers in general. The production is made by the machinery imported from Australia.
2001:
GREATWALL (1988) CO. LTD. was awarded the ISO 9002 : 1994 Quality Certification by RW TÜV Anlagentechink GmbH.
A complete set of polystyrene block - molding machined using the latest technology and electronic control of the whole production process were imported from Germany. This is aimed to achieve improvement of product quality and quantity in response to the expansion of the foam-block market in the insulated panel and construction industries.
2002 - 2003:
The company has improved and expanded factory utilization area to 21,000 square meters in total. Another production line of insulated panel was added so that there are two production lines for insulated panel manufacture in total. The company also improved production system of Polystyrene block and expanded production capacity in order to produce high foam quality and quantity to serve the growing demand in insulated panel market.
2003:
GREATWALL (1988) CO. LTD. was under the process of improvement in response to the ISO-9001 : 2000 Quality Certification.
2004:
GREATWALL (1988) CO. LTD. was awarded the ISO 9001 : 2000 Quality Certification from RW TÜV Systems GmbH
Throughout the more than 20 years of business operation and expansion, the GREATWALL GROUP has passed on to the work teams and personnel under its care all available know-how and experiences it has acquired through hard and honest work. This is in itself an assurance that the GREATWALL GROUP productions will ever retain a standard quality under a fixed policy that “We will produce quality goods and services to satisfy our customers” at all times.
It can be concluded that GREATWALL (1988) CO., LTD. is the producer of the highest standard insulates panels on account of its being operate and managed by an expert who has behind him more than 43 years of experience in the field of insulator production.
