Awakening the Giant (Ceiling Fan)

Many times I have had the opportunity to travel abroad frequently to see the advancements in various countries' scientific fields and then adapt them to my own business. The countries I mostly choose to visit for these purposes are in the Asia-Pacific region, such as Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, or even mainland China, where there is more technological advancement than in our country. Once, I had the opportunity to negotiate business in Singapore with a businessman who was a friend of mine. We agreed to meet at Marina Bay in a restaurant, and I went with one of my assistants.

After finishing our meal, we walked to Chinatown to see the colors of Singaporeans and then continued to Orchard Road to have coffee before returning to our accommodation. The weather in Singapore itself is not much different from home because it's hot and humid, but manageable. I am someone who easily feels hot, but I noticed that the restaurants in Singapore and the places we passed through were not much different from the areas like Silom, Thonglor, or Ekamai in our country. However, there was one type of fan that I had never seen much before in Thailand, and it was everywhere there, from upscale restaurants to roadside eateries. That's the "Ceiling Fan" or the hanging ceiling fan.

Me : What’s that Mike ?

Friend : Humm That’s Big Ceiling Fan. It’s very popular in my country. Why ?

But there are plenty of ceiling fans in Thailand. What's so strange about that? Our country has a lot of them. But what caught my eye was that it wasn't just an ordinary ceiling fan or a regular ceiling fan. It had the word "Big" or "Giant" mixed in.

How big is big? Well, the regular ceiling fans in our homes have blades that are no more than 2 meters long. But the fan I saw had blades reaching over 3 meters, almost up to 8 meters (if you can't imagine how big that is, it's bigger than an elephant!). That's what piqued my interest.

So, I asked my followers, "Do you think if I brought this to sell in Thailand, would it sell?" My assistant remained silent for a moment and then replied, "It won't sell, sir. Who would buy it? In Thailand, we already have plenty of other types of fans, and besides, this one would be expensive. Thai people won't buy it."

Well, my assistant... I didn't think like you did at all. As you said, if something becomes popular and widespread like this, there must be some reason behind it. It doesn't just happen out of nowhere.

After returning to Thailand, I started researching the history and origins of this giant fan seriously, intending to develop it for my business's ventilation aspect. I found out that this type of fan actually originated from the United States of America. The idea began with farmers in animal farms who needed fans to circulate air for their cows and pigs, to prevent insect infestations and ensure the animals' well-being and good quality meat and milk. This need was then communicated to fan manufacturers in the USA. Eventually, they incorporated the design principles of Helicopter rotor blades to design fans using the "High Volume Low Speed" principle, which means they have large blades and save electricity at the same time. This was successfully achieved in 1999 and became widely used in America and neighboring countries.

The development continued, and this fan entered many other businesses, including industrial factories, hotels, schools, and government buildings, as time went on. That's a brief history of the origin of the giant fan in America.

As I delved deeper into the details, I found this fan incredibly interesting and capable of meeting the needs of increasing airflow while saving energy efficiently. With just one of these fans, it could replace over 40 floor fans in an area, meaning we could save electricity costs all at once. Moreover, it was very quiet, unlike the factory fans that directly attach to the blades.

After that, I set a policy for my team and engineers to develop this product quickly and study the mechanical and various systems thoroughly. We immediately started developing and testing the product, and after more than three months of development, despite the challenges in controlling the speed of such a large fan, designing the blades, and the sturdy materials used in injection molding, we finally came up with a prototype and tested it at our factory in Bangna. The test results, including airflow, electricity savings, and most importantly, safety systems, were positive. We tested for more than 7 months to ensure that our product could be mass-produced.

My team and I then presented this fan to the Central Group, which was our first and largest customer. We faced many challenges in negotiation, including doubts and uncertainties, and had to explain the efficiency and analyze various design aspects in detail, especially the safety dimension of installation. As I said, there had never been such a giant fan in Thailand before, so it was not surprising that customers were concerned. However, after explaining various data and test results, the Central Group management allowed us to install 6 test units in one branch (Thaiwatsadu) shortly after.

After installation, it turned out that the fan we developed could work satisfactorily. It could circulate air in the customer's showroom, reducing the heat in the building by creating air movement and circulation, thus reducing the workload of the customer's existing air conditioning system and resulting in overall energy savings. Therefore, Central Group began a project to install our "Yushi" giant fans in warehouses nationwide, installing 180 units throughout the country.

That was the beginning of the development of giant fans in Thailand. I believe we are the pioneers who brought this business and have been constantly improving its efficiency. Now, this type of fan is very popular in our country. Currently, we have produced and installed over 1,000 units in various locations nationwide, and we will continue to focus on developing our ventilation products and business for a better future.

Thank you very much to those who have read and followed me up to this point. I hope this story serves as a guide and inspiration to many. I am very happy to share about myself and my business for the benefit of the general public.

Yuth Chungsawanant