Just one word. Plastics.

In the classic 1967 film The Graduate the character Mr. McGuire advises recent college graduate Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) to pursue a career in the up-and-coming plastics industry. 

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Plastics.

Benjamin spends the rest of the movie floating in the family pool and getting involved in messy love affairs, but at Proximity we were listening!  From a design perspective plastics offer an amazing degree of flexibility, and in manufacturing this often translates into reduced costs and greater consistency – both of which are highly desirable.  So as our in-house design capacity has grown and we’ve found vendors able to work with us, over time we’ve integrated more and more plastics into our products.  Across all products we are currently using over 60 unique plastic parts designed by our team.

     Left: the parts for the Kyan Ni junction box.               Right: the Sin Pauq junction box.

The “junction box” is a great example of the motivations.  This is the part in every pump which separates the water coming from the source into the two cylinders.  In our Kyan Ni pump, the oldest among the products we’re currently manufacturing, the junction box is formed by six different steel parts and is assembled through four distinct welding operations.  Every weld is subject to variability in process parameters and operator skill, so we have an extensive quality control operation in place to check for any flaws.  Total cost of parts and labor is approximately 1900 Ks (about $2.15).  In the Sin Pauq pump – a nearly all-plastic model introduced in 2010 -- the junction box is a single injection molded plastic part that costs only 850 Ks ($0.96), and assembly of this part with the rest of the pump is dead simple!

Of course, this is still Myanmar.  Many elements of the tools, methods, and materials being used in the plastics industry here are still decades behind the most developed places.  In our partnership with vendors here we are regularly pushing the envelope – seeking more complex geometry, better materials, and tighter control.  The expertise our team has developed working within the present constraints is extremely unique and highly valuable for our ability to get products to market.  It’s a lot of work, but  in the end it’s worth it – through the use of plastics we are moving ever closer to our goals of making products that meet today’s standards of high quality and radical affordability for our customers.

An employee at an injection molding business pulls on a handle to force molten plastic into the cavity of a steel mold.  

Threshing by the light of my solar lantern

With so much to do on the farm during the day, rice threshing has become a night time activity. When we went to visit one of our d.light customers in Dedaye we found him using two of his solar lights to light his thresher. Instead of having to use his money to run a generator in the field all night, he can now reinvest it into his farm, his family, and offering more casual labourers -- like the ones you see here -- employment in his village.

20 minutes with Jim Taylor

The last 12 months have been huge for Myanmar. The country is changing at an unprecedented rate and the future is looking brighter in many ways. These changes have had a big impact on the way Proximity can operate in the country, what we can do and how we can do it. They have also brought big challenges, more competition, and the need for more analysis as to how development and globalization is impacting rural communities.

With the Myanmar New Year just gone, Proximity co-founder, Jim Taylor, talks about the last twelve months, and Proximity’s plans for the next.

What would you say have been Proximity’s greatest successes in the last year?

Proximity has expanded a lot and we’ve taken on a lot of new things. With our original business of irrigation, we launched two really innovative new products that had been several years in development. That was a big accomplishment. Twelve months ago, we were just beginning to think about solar lighting, and now we’re managing a huge scale program that has already been really successful and has so much potential to grow. We’re projecting over 25,000 sales this year and we’re well on the way to that number.

We’ve also finally been able to get a microfinance license for the first time, and to increase our funds for this by a large amount. There’s a huge need for affordable rural credit in this country, and we’re finally able to start meeting it. That feels like a big accomplishment. So yeah, this year we’ve really been able to expand beyond irrigation and get into some exciting areas. That’s a definite success!

How has this year been for rural families in Myanmar?

It’s still very difficult. While there’s optimism about change, this is still very much confined to the urban areas. In rural areas, a lot of young people are still migrating out to South Korea and Thailand because work here is so scarce. It just doesn’t seem possible to earn a living in rural Myanmar for many. I just came back from a trip to the Dry Zone, where they are suffering from a massive drought. Many families up there are having a hard time making enough to eat. It’s tough.

The nature of farming is always so dependent on outside forces too, and the lack of services and technology in many areas makes poor rural families even more vulnerable. You talk to some farmers this month and they’re a little bit more optimistic about rice prices and the rice market. However, six months ago, before the rice harvest, they were saying the last couple of years have been the worst in 25. There is some optimism in places, and there are some savvy farmers who are seeking out opportunities and capitalizing on them. That’s cool to see.

How have the changes in Myanmar affected Proximity, and what are you doing to adapt?

Well, in irrigation we’re seeing the market become very disrupted by the influx of new, more affordable technology flooding in, mostly from China. One of these is a new small motorized pump which, when you look at the rising cost of labor, are not much different to our own pumps cost wise. Our pumps can’t compete on convenience and speed, but we’ve always known that treadlepumps were just an intermediary step up to better technology. The transition is just happening faster than we could have anticipated right now! However, if that’s the direction our customers are moving then we need to serve that. Maybe we can configure our own, even more affordable, fuel-efficient diesel pump that can help farmers step up faster, perhaps even a solar powered one. Anytime you have a disruptive event or innovation entering your market you can either go, “Well, that’s going to kill business!” or start thinking creatively about how to adapt and improve. That’s always been our attitude.

How about changes in the whole sector?

The aid sector is becoming increasingly interested in the social enterprise approach as they see the positive sustainable impact it can generate.

There’s also a bigger emphasis being placed on product and service design in ways it wasn’t before. I think there’re a lot people interested in design, really understanding your customers, and really building a business around empathy these days. We saw it in Davos at the World Economic Forum this year. Big businesses are becoming more social. They’re seeing the benefit in understanding their customers and their cultures better, particularly in these huge underserved markets at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’. Schwab should be given a lot of credit for bringing some alternative voices to the mix at this year’s forum.

Who inspires you at the moment? 

I’m inspired by people who can design great products that meet market needs. d.light Designs have done a really interesting job of developing a high quality product for markets around the world. I’m proud we’re partnered with them. I think organizations, like Root Capital, who are providing creative financial services are really impressive. Kiva’s efforts to branch beyond traditional micro-financial services are inspiring to me too.

Hopes for the coming year

I hope that we can continue to grow, and serve more people in Myanmar. We’ve been blessed with an opportunity to be here, and to have resources and the talent of people who are motivated to help rural families to succeed. My goal would be that we’d be able to marshal all we have into creating a huge impact in improving the lives of rural families. That’s what we’re here for, and we have a great opportunity to do it on a bigger landscape than we’ve ever had before.

Wishing you a wonderful 1375!

New Year Highlights

With Thingyan (the Myanmar New Year Festival) just passed, we take a visual look back at some of the best moments in the last twelve months at Proximity. Click on the image to see more.

We hope you feel as refreshed from the water throwing festival as our sales demo does here!