Executive Interview | So Chiao Industrial Chairman: Putting Safety Before Cost and Quality Before Price
With nearly five decades of manufacturing experience, So Chiao Industrial Co., Ltd., the manufacturer of Sea Dragon Brand fire hoses, is one of Taiwan’s established fire hose manufacturers serving customers across more than 30 countries, including markets in North America, Europe, and Japan. Its fire hose products have also obtained type approval for fire-fighting equipment under Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior.
In an industry where suppliers may compete over price differences of only a few dollars, So Chiao has deliberately taken a different path.
In an interview with Fire Safety Monthly, Chairman 紀崇文 summarized the company’s philosophy in clear terms:
“Fire protection equipment is designed to stand ready even when it is rarely used—and when the moment comes, it has to perform. We always put safety before cost and quality before price. That sense of responsibility is built into every manufacturing process and every inspection standard.”
That philosophy helps explain how So Chiao Industrial has maintained its quality standards despite decades of increasingly aggressive price competition.
Read Fire Safety Monthly, Issue No. 14 – Corporate Interview
Why Is the Price Difference Between Fire Hoses Often a Multiple Rather Than a Few Dollars?
According to Chairman 紀崇文, maintaining a quality-first strategy has become increasingly difficult as the market faces intense competition from lower-priced imported products.
Many manufacturers may compete over margins of NT$10 or NT$20 per unit. But from So Chiao’s perspective, that comparison misses the real issue.
The difference between a professionally engineered fire hose and a low-cost alternative may not be a matter of a few dollars. In some cases, the difference in material and manufacturing cost can be several times greater.
This highlights an important reality in the fire hose industry: two hoses can look almost identical from the outside while using completely different material grades, manufacturing processes, reinforcement structures, bonding technologies, and quality-control standards.
For equipment that may be called upon to protect human life, evaluating products on purchase price alone can therefore be misleading.
How Large Is the Material Cost Difference Between PVC and TPU?
Chairman 紀崇文 offered a straightforward comparison:
“Just look at the difference between PVC and TPU. If one material costs 10, another may cost 100.”
The point is not the exact number, but the magnitude of the difference.
So Chiao selects high-quality thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) for its fire hose liners rather than choosing materials solely on the basis of lowest acquisition cost. Certain products use even higher-cost specialty TPU grades to achieve the performance characteristics required for demanding applications.
That material investment translates directly into measurable physical properties.
Sea Dragon Brand fire hose liners can achieve:
- Tensile strength of up to 40 MPa, compared with a minimum test requirement of 36 MPa
- Elongation of 400% or greater
- Retention of at least 80% of original tensile strength and elongation following an accelerated aging test at 70°C ±1°C for 96 hours
These performance figures illustrate an important principle behind So Chiao’s manufacturing philosophy: material selection is not simply a purchasing decision. It is one of the first engineering decisions affecting long-term hose reliability.
What Improvement Does the Chairman Recommend for Fire Hose Testing?
For Chairman 紀崇文, improving product safety should happen as quickly as engineering evidence allows.
“When human life is involved, improvements cannot wait. If something can be improved, we should act as quickly as possible.”
One area he believes deserves closer attention is the sequence used when evaluating liner-to-jacket peel strength.
Under the current testing sequence discussed in the interview, peel-strength testing is performed before the hose undergoes its water-vapor resistance test.
Chairman 紀崇文 proposes reversing that sequence.
In his view, the hose should first undergo prolonged exposure to elevated temperature and humidity, followed by the peel-strength test.
Why?
A newly manufactured product will naturally be more likely to meet an adhesion requirement. The more meaningful question is whether that same bond remains strong after prolonged exposure to heat and moisture.
Testing peel strength after environmental conditioning could therefore provide a better indication of whether aging, humidity, or temperature may contribute to liner separation or adhesive deterioration over time.
Importantly, his proposal does not require changing the underlying test conditions. It changes the order of testing to gain a more realistic understanding of long-term material behavior.
Under Taiwan’s Fire Hose Approval Criteria, the water-vapor resistance test for synthetic-resin liners includes exposure at 70°C ±3°C for 360 hours.
For So Chiao, this is exactly the type of demanding environment that can reveal differences that may not be visible when a fire hose is brand new.
Five Quality Characteristics of Sea Dragon Brand Fire Hoses
So Chiao Industrial continues to manufacture its Sea Dragon Brand fire hoses in Taiwan, with product design and manufacturing centered on material durability, structural integrity, abrasion resistance, and long-term reliability.
The company highlights five key performance characteristics.
| Key Quality Feature | Technical Description |
| Precision integrated liner construction with high-temperature bonding performance | The inner liner is produced using precision PU processing equipment to create a consistent structure and reduce the risk of contamination or leakage. Liner-to-jacket peel strength can reach 40 N/25 mm, while the bonded structure is designed to withstand temperatures above 120°C without delamination. |
| High tensile strength and aging resistance | The liner uses aging-resistant TPU with tensile strength of up to 40 MPa and elongation of 400% or greater. After accelerated aging at 70°C ±1°C for 96 hours, tensile strength and elongation remain at least 80% of their original values. |
| Industrial-grade woven jacket with rigorous abrasion resistance | Both warp and weft yarns use industrial-grade, high-strength polyester fibers from established material suppliers. Under the #100-grit sandpaper abrasion test specified in Taiwan’s fire hose approval criteria, hoses can withstand approximately 20 to more than 150 abrasion cycles, depending on rated working pressure. |
| Low expansion and easy handling | The hose is engineered to remain lightweight, flexible, and water resistant while maintaining low expansion and low elongation. After water exposure, the hose does not require prolonged sun drying, helping simplify recoiling, storage, and routine maintenance. |
| Protected coupling design and hydraulic securing system | Couplings are available in bronze casting or forged 6061 aluminum alloy. Depending on specification, both hose ends can be protected by sleeves measuring approximately 12 to 20 cm or longer. Couplings are hydraulically secured using 2 mm stainless-steel, galvanized-steel, or aluminum-alloy rings, while the female coupling incorporates an additional protective ring to reduce impact damage. |
Why Was the Semi-Rigid Fire Hose Designed Around One Primary Goal?
Traditional lay-flat fire hoses often require coordinated operation: one person deploys the hose while another opens the water supply.
So Chiao developed and promotes its 25A semi-rigid fire hose for single-person indoor fire hydrant operation to address this limitation.
Chairman 紀崇文 describes the design objective simply:
“There is only one purpose behind the semi-rigid hose: allowing a user to obtain a stable water supply without depending on specialized operating skills, so initial fire suppression can begin immediately.”
That philosophy is reflected in four practical design characteristics.
1. Water Can Flow Without Fully Deploying the Hose
The 25A semi-rigid hose, Type Approval No. HS-A107002, Model 25 / 1.0 MPa, maintains a substantially round profile instead of collapsing completely flat.
With a minimum bending radius of approximately 12 cm, the hose can be charged while being deployed, allowing the operator to advance while discharging water rather than waiting for the full hose length to be laid out.
Its abrasion resistance exceeds 100 test cycles under the applicable test method.
2. Approximately 5 kg for a Complete 30-Meter Assembly
A complete 30-meter hose assembly weighs approximately 5 kg.
Its lightweight construction and lower handling resistance are designed to make single-person operation practical for a broader range of users.
Rather than requiring specialized hose-handling technique, the system is intended to make early-stage fire response more intuitive.
3. Designed for Taiwan Type II Indoor Fire Hydrant Applications
Under applicable Taiwan Ministry of the Interior requirements, Type II indoor fire hydrant systems using semi-rigid hose may be installed in many types of occupancies, subject to regulatory exceptions and building-specific requirements.
Sea Dragon Brand semi-rigid hose is engineered for high abrasion resistance and high burst-pressure performance.
Its durable construction can also help reduce long-term replacement and maintenance demands in public facilities.
Note for international buyers: Installation requirements and fire protection codes vary by country and jurisdiction. Projects in the United States should be evaluated according to applicable local codes, NFPA requirements, AHJ requirements, and any required UL or FM approvals.
4. Existing Hydrant Cabinets Can Be Upgraded
Facilities currently equipped with a Type I indoor fire hydrant cabinet using a 40A fire hydrant valve may be able to install So Chiao’s dedicated 40A-to-25A adapter, depending on the existing configuration and applicable local requirements.
This provides a potential pathway for converting an existing installation into a more user-friendly, single-person fire hose system without replacing the entire cabinet.
Why Ease of Use Matters During the First Minutes of a Fire
Chairman 紀崇文 also points to a broader change in modern building safety.
As buildings become more complex and their occupants more diverse, emergency equipment must not only deliver high performance—it must also remain intuitive under stress.
This is particularly important during the earliest stage of a fire, when occupants or facility personnel may need to respond before professional firefighters arrive.
The semi-rigid fire hose was therefore developed around a balance of:
- Durability
- Hydraulic performance
- Abrasion resistance
- Ease of deployment
- Single-person operation
In a real emergency, the most technically impressive piece of equipment is not necessarily the most effective.
The equipment that matters is the equipment that people can operate correctly under pressure and that continues to perform reliably when needed most.
What Comes Next for So Chiao Industrial?
Looking ahead, Chairman 紀崇文 says the company intends to maintain a practical, engineering-driven approach focused on the fundamental purpose of fire protection: protecting people.
One example is So Chiao’s additional hose peel-durability inspection, introduced during manufacturing to help identify conditions that could potentially contribute to micro-cracking, separation, or long-term material deterioration.
The company plans to continue investing in Taiwan-based manufacturing expertise while taking advantage of TPU’s durability, aging resistance, and long-term dimensional stability.
Longer product life can also deliver another benefit: reducing replacement frequency and unnecessary material consumption over the service life of the equipment.
For So Chiao, quality control is therefore not a final inspection performed at the end of production.
It begins with material selection and continues through extrusion, weaving, bonding, coupling installation, pressure testing, durability evaluation, and final inspection.
Nearly Five Decades of Building Trust Through Manufacturing Discipline
Founded in 1980, So Chiao Industrial has built the Sea Dragon Brand through decades of fire hose manufacturing experience.
Its products are sold in more than 30 countries across North America, Europe, Japan, and other international markets. The company has also obtained TÜV SÜD ISO 9001 certification, completed Japanese national inspection requirements in 2004, and received fire-fighting equipment type approval from Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior in May 2011.
This history reflects a business model built not around being the lowest-cost producer, but around manufacturing discipline.
For Chairman 紀崇文, trust is accumulated through countless production decisions—material by material, process by process, and inspection by inspection.
That is what he means when he says improvements in fire safety are a matter of urgency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How does So Chiao Industrial view price competition in the fire hose market?
Chairman 紀崇文 believes that competing over extremely small unit-price differences makes little sense when the underlying products may differ substantially in raw materials, manufacturing processes, durability, and performance.
For life-safety equipment, So Chiao believes procurement decisions should consider total product quality and reliability rather than purchase price alone.
Q2. Why does Sea Dragon Brand use TPU instead of lower-cost PVC materials?
TPU can cost substantially more than PVC, but it also offers valuable mechanical properties for demanding fire hose applications.
So Chiao selects high-quality TPU materials to achieve higher tensile strength, elongation, aging resistance, flexibility, and long-term performance.
Certain product specifications use even more specialized TPU grades where additional performance is required.
Q3. What change does the chairman recommend for fire hose testing?
He recommends conducting the peel-strength test after the water-vapor resistance test, rather than before it.
His reasoning is that a new hose may easily demonstrate adequate adhesion, while testing after prolonged exposure to heat and humidity provides a more realistic indication of whether the liner-to-jacket bond remains stable after environmental aging.
Q4. What is the purpose of the 25A semi-rigid fire hose?
Its primary purpose is to make indoor fire hydrant operation easier for a single user.
Because the hose maintains its shape instead of collapsing completely flat, water can be supplied before the full hose length is deployed. Combined with a complete system weight of approximately 5 kg for 30 meters, the design is intended to reduce the physical and technical barriers associated with traditional lay-flat hose operation.
Q5. What certifications and approvals does Sea Dragon Brand hold?
According to So Chiao Industrial, the company has obtained TÜV SÜD ISO 9001 certification, its products completed Japanese national inspection requirements in 2004, and its fire hoses received type approval under Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior in May 2011.
The 25A semi-rigid fire hose carries Taiwan Type Approval No. HS-A107002.
Specific certification requirements vary by market. Buyers should confirm applicable standards and approvals for their country, project, and local authority having jurisdiction.
Q6. What are So Chiao Industrial’s core brand values?
The company summarizes its philosophy as:
Protect Quality. Satisfy Customers. Innovate with Ingenuity. Create Value.
For nearly five decades, these principles have guided Sea Dragon Brand’s approach to product development and manufacturing.
Chairman 紀崇文 believes the goal of fire protection procurement should not simply be to purchase the lowest-priced product. It should be to select equipment that provides dependable protection when lives and property are at risk.
Conclusion: Answering Price Competition With Data, Engineering, and Consistency
The debate between price and value becomes very different when the product involved is life-safety equipment.
So Chiao Industrial’s answer to that debate is measurable performance.
From higher-cost material selection and specific proposals for improving durability testing, to the single-person operating philosophy behind its semi-rigid fire hose, the company’s approach reflects a consistent principle:
Safety comes before cost. Quality comes before price.
For Chairman 紀崇文, this is not simply a corporate slogan.
It is a decision-making standard applied to raw materials, manufacturing equipment, process controls, testing procedures, coupling design, and final product inspection.
Nearly five decades after the company was founded, that commitment continues to define the Sea Dragon Brand.
To learn more about So Chiao Industrial and Sea Dragon Brand fire hoses, visit the So Chiao Industrial About Us page or contact the So Chiao technical team for product specifications, technical documentation, and catalogs.
