Inthe medical and pharmaceutical markets Honda is also bringing his unique research-design-and-produce approach:

“Many Western converters say that it is impossible to produce PET extrusion blow moulded product, but we do it, actually my father did it more than 20 years ago, and since then we have been refining our technique, to the point where we produce very tiny containers for the medical industry, eye-drops in particular, using Homo PET (not PET-G or PTCG) but pure PET and we are achieving wall thickness as low as 10microns for specialised medical appliances – basically it’s a PET balloon!”.

One of Honda’s most challenging projects was not a package, but a highly specialised piece of medical apparatus.

Originally produced by assembling more than 10 pieces of extruded tube to a further 10 pieces of injection moulded joints in a complex configuration of u-bends and y-junctions for a valve-type mechanism (the function of which remains a propriatory secret)

“As you can imagine, the cost was huge, more than most medical insurance would cover”. Says Honda “We took the project, examined the function and with the medical researchers we designed a mould where we could extrude it to an exact medical specification in one single part, even down to the precise wall tolerances which were just a few microns and then manufacture at production speed.

“As a result we were able to reduce the cost of the device to one tenth that of the original!”

Creative skill set

Taka Honda is enthusiastic about the production skill-set which he and his team have developed “With good extrusion blow moulding skills the potential is unlimited, if you also have the creative instinct you can produce anything.

“In my view, injection blow moulding just produces containers – which is why I got rid of it!”

But Taka Honda’s real skill-set however is the creativity which comes from mixing a Cambridge art-school education with a solid technical background which three generations brings “I really have my father to thank, both for the education and the patience he had to introduce me to the business as a child”

The result is some surprising packaging: “We’ve been making lockable boxes for the industrial tool suppliers for some time, but with a few modifications we have been able to reposition the container for the high end consumer product industry.

“A flower delivery company is now using them as sturdy but yet elegant presentation cases for special occasions, birthdays, weddings and the like.”

Jewellery designers and watch makers are also using variations the concept for point of sale display and presentation cases in the high fashionista stores of Ginza.

Meanwhile Honda has been quietly working through yet another variation with Tokyo fashion designer Myaki to market a range of t-shirts using the box concept.

“We own the concepts, it is a know-how which we can sell. Of course as extrusion blow moulders we are essentially an industrial process, but we have to be more than just a supplier. We have to focus on the creation and development of our IP based on extrusion blow moulding - our core competence.

“All of our staff are encouraged to think creatively, they look at the world around them, they don’t leave the world at the factory door when they come to work, they read fashion magazines, go shopping, and think ‘could we make something; a container or something else, that would enhance that product’ then they come to work with ideas, it really doesn’t matter who has the idea, if it works, if it can be produced, it is worth exploring”

Honda even developed a unique tear-shaped ballpoint pen, originally as a corporate promotional gift-item for his own customers, but Honda took it to Japan’s largest stationary and pen maker, Pilot “They liked it and took a licence to sell it – of course I also have the rights to sell it, it’s my pen – but that’s their business, I’m happy to design and produce it”

Possibly encouraged by his partnerships with Pilot and fashion designer Myaki, Taka Honda has grander vision for his extrusion blow moulding business:

“I want to take my brand further into the marketplace. Is it strange to hear an extrusion blow moulder talking about his brand? After all he’s just an extruder! No, we are not! My brand equity is in creativity of our business which we can take that where we want using extrusion blow moulding: By collaborating with furniture designers could we blow mould our own range of… chairs for example?

“Would it not be possible to have a Honda Plus cosmetic or fashion range? After all, we design and make the packages, and in those industries a very high percentage of the product retail price is spent on the packaging, and it is largely the package style design and innovation which sells the product! Or what about the fashion industry?

“Would it not be possible to have a Honda Plus cosmetic or fashion range? After all, we design and make the packages, and in those industries a very high percentage of the product retail price is spent on the packaging, and it is largely the package style design and innovation which sells the product! Or what about the fashion industry?

“Would it be so strange if the packager became involved in more than the package development and production? Would it not be a matter of reversing the role of package producer and customer under some collaborative licensing agreement where both parties use their core competence the maximum market impact? Who knows!”