Palmer-Asia Inc., one of Asia’s leading companies that offers products and services in the fire, safety and security industry, is planning to expand its business with the construction of a new manufacturing facility and the export of their locally made products like their fire extinguishers and fire trucks.
According to Angel “Andy” P. Palmiery, President and CEO of Palmer-Asia Inc., construction of their main production facility plant in Laguna will start next year. This production facility will enable Palmer-Asia to produce more fire trucks at a lower cost and subsequently export them to neighboring countries.
“We already have a production facility in Paranaque but that is not enough to meet the demands of our clients. This will bring us closer to our goal of having a presence in the whole of Asia. We also want to put up plants in other parts of the world” he added.
Palmer-Asia has four divisions of expertise: fire trucks and emergency vehicles, fire suppression and security systems; fire extinguishers and personal protective equipment; and marine safety.
Palmiery started Palmer-Asia Inc. back in 1993 when he managed to earn a substantial amount of money from selling fire extinguishers. He started selling fire extinguishers when the furniture company he was working in was burned down to the ground.
“When I was looking for a job at that time, a friend suggested that I try selling fire extinguishers because I had selling experience. The first fire extinguisher I sold was a mixture of Halon 1211 and Halon 1301. It is now banned because it contains chemicals that cause depletion of the ozone layer and could contribute to global warming,” he recalled.
The company initially sold imported fire extinguishers. It eventually acquired the technology and the know how to produce their own fire extinguishers. By that time the company was already selling fire fighting equipment like fire suits, helmets, gloves, boots, self-contained breathing apparatus and fire hoses.
In 1995, Palmer-Asia started to design, supply, install and maintain different types of fire suppression and fire detection systems in partnership with the leading brands from the United States and Europe.
“There was one client who asked if we had firetrucks and in 1998, the company looked for possible partners to branch out to the manufacture and assembly of fire truck. That year, we were able to find the team that helped us with the manufacture of fire trucks and they have been with us since then with additional experts, knowledge and training.” he said.
In 2009, Palmer-Asia started its Security Systems Department which offered products like closed circuit television cameras. The following year, it opened its Marine Safety Division, taking into account the vast network of shipping companies all over the country which serves many of its 7,100 islands. Palmer now serves ships from the USA, Europe, Japan and China.
“We have had many challenges while setting up the various businesses but with a lot of prayer, hard work and finding the right personnel, we have grown to what we are now. All our processes follow our ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certifications. We strictly adhere to the requirements of the Bureau of Philippine Standards, Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board, Marina, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and other local government agencies. We show our care for the community by giving free lectures and training in the barangays and subdivisions on the use of fire extinguishers. We are also providing a fire truck for emergencies. We have built houses for our employees. We are guided by our core values of hard work, integrity, meritocracy and solidarity,” he said.
