YHI International will break the technological barrier and raise its image significantly when it becomes the first company outside Japan and Europe to use the high-tech flow forming method of alloy wheel construction as early as next year.

'As a manufacturer, we are moving in a different direction from our competitors because flow forming will raise our production efficiency to new standards and give the YHI brand name a world class image,' says group managing director Richard Tay.

Until now, the mainboard-listed company has been using the simpler method of gravity casting at its wheel production facilities in China, Taiwan and Malaysia.

The particular flow forming technology which YHI is adopting from Japan's Enkei is also employed by two other Japanese companies. A couple of Italian and German wheel manufacturers also use flow forming but their processes are different from the Japanese.

Enkei is the world's largest producer of alloy wheels and a pioneer in flow forming technology, which compresses the heated aluminium under high pressure while it is being spun. This is different from gravity casting, in which the liquid metal is poured into a mould to be cast into a rim.

Enkei's flow forming method uses 20 per cent less material and only a quarter of the usual production time.

The resulting wheel is not only lighter but also stronger and requires only a third of the energy that would otherwise have been spent producing it.

YHI will be licensing the flow forming technology from Enkei and buying the machinery and robots necessary for one production line. The equipment will be installed in a high-security area at the group's recently opened Suzhou factory for testing.

Japanese engineers will also train YHI staff, who will have to undergo background screening before working on the line.

When the line becomes operational, it will turn out 20,000 units a month.

This compares with just 15,000 units a month for each of YHI's 11 conventional gravity-cast lines.

Mr Tay declined to say how much his firm is investing in this technology or the royalties payable due to a confidentiality agreement. But industry sources note that the equipment for one complete line usually costs around US$4 million.

As wheel sizes increase, their weight also increases when made under traditional production methods.

But flow forming's use of 20 per cent less material helps to keep that weight down.

Larger wheels - YHI is making them in sizes ranging from 17 to 22 inches - also mean higher selling prices and better profit margins.

So how did the company manage to convince Enkei to share the high-tech production method, which Taiwanese as well as Chinese competitors have been seeking but without success? 'We have a 32-year relationship with this company,' explains Mr Tay, referring to the mutual trust between the two firms. 'Enkei and YHI go back a long way.'

He adds that part of Enkei's willingness to transfer the technology is due to the Japanese manufacturer's keenness to concentrate on its bigger OEM or original equipment manufacture business and leaving YHI, which is already a licensed manufacturer of its after-market wheels, to take care of the latter segment on its behalf.

YHI's association with Enkei began when it assumed the distribution of the Japanese company's alloy wheels in Asia outside Japan in 1975.

This eventually extended to the Middle East, Russia, Africa and Europe, and was later followed by joint ventures in which YHI helped to build and operate Enkei's wheel manufacturing plants in Asean.

'By learning Japanese methods of production, YHI will stand out as a wheel manufacturer and eventually, achieve Japanese standards of quality,' says Mr Tay.