Soccer figurines under the Kick-o-Mania brand form one of the successful export lines to come out of the Pacific Smart think-tank

Dutch-born entrepreneur Thomas Seelen uses in-flight "downtime" to dream up ideas for the award-winning toys and premiums produced by his Hong Kong company.

The doodles of the managing director of Pacific Smart Consumer Products (HK) Ltd are then passed on to his international design team in Hong Kong. After much further development, they may - or may not - make it to the production line in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), Chinese mainland. Ten per cent of its marketed products have been awarded prizes.

Mr Seelen founded Pacific Smart in 1999, based on his 11 years of prior experience in the toy industry. Today, the company exports to 19 countries and has an annual turnover of between HK$156 and $233 million (US$20 and $30 million). Its products include popular soccer figurines Kick-o-Mania, and Blade Racer, its first brand to be distributed exclusively throughout Europe and named Toy of the Year for 2003 in the Netherlands. The company also won Premium of the Year 2004 for a key cap it designed.

The nerve centre of the company's operation is its Hong Kong headquarters, with its staff of 16. Another three employees are based in the United States.

Ideal working model

Mr Seelen says the Hong Kong/PRD formula gives him the best of two working environments. When combined, they offer him a fast-turnaround of well designed, international-standard products for export to his growing world markets.

"Hong Kong offers excellent logistics, business and financial infrastructure, a true 'East meets West' mentality, a highly skilled and motivated workforce, and a can-do mentality. Hong Kong also gives us proximity to other companies, along with an ideal geographical location in the middle of Asia and at the doorway to China."

The PRD, where Pacific Smart is a shareholder in one factory and sub-contractor to around 10 others, offers modern production facilities, up-to-date machinery, and competitive pricing. Most factories in the PRD now have a sound engineering knowledge built up over the past 20 or 40 years, and a good understanding of what foreign companies expect in terms of quality and on-time delivery, Mr Seelen said. "They are also abiding by the code of conduct."

With both sides of his operation working together, the resultant speedy turnaround cycle means Mr Seelen can show the customer a ready-to-go manufacturing concept within 10 days. "Sometimes, the process from the rough idea until shipping takes no more than three months. This speed is only possible because of Hong Kong's proximity to the Pearl River Delta."

Mr Seelen is currently in discussion with major companies in the US and China about distribution partnerships for his latest line, a hand-held, multimedia player called digiBLAST. "As a company we have confidence in a bright future based on our competitive price edge, and our highly innovative design think-tank which has resulted in numerous award-winning products."