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Established in 2002, Act Star specializes in Christmas trees, with 70 percent of exports comprising fiber optic models and the rest, artificial trees. 80 percent of the supplier's overseas shipments go to the US and the remainder is exported to the EU. In the coming 12 months, Act Star will start to produce other fiber optic products such as butterflies, rabbits and eggs for Easter. In 2006, the supplier will buy two touch-screen automatic stretching machines and 10 branch-binding machines to improve efficiency and increase capacity. Products
Low-end and midrange artificial trees from Act Star are priced from US$2 to US$6, while high-end models are double this price as they have more branches and are made of durable PVC. Optical fibers, iron wires, bases and other accessories are sourced from suppliers in Shenzhen. Optical fibers used range from 0.3 to 1mm in diameter. Act Star's five designers and engineers develop more than 100 new styles of trees every year. There are 30 workers for making samples. The R&D team conducts research on the shape of tips, wrapping and twisting method, colors and energy saving features of lights. Manufacturing
Act Star's factory in Shenzhen has a three-storey workshop and warehouse. The factory employs about 300 workers during the peak season of March to September and 100 during the low season. Molding and base manufacture are subcontracted locally. In-house production is done in two main workshops: the artificial trees production line on the second floor with 50 workers and the fiber optic trees workshop on the third floor with 250 workers. Popular export models
The artificial tree workshop is equipped with six fully automatic and four semi-automatic stretching machines for making pine needles. The fully automatic machines have touch screen control panels and can twist four twigs at a time, while the semi-automatic models are manually fed with two strips a time. For fiber optic trees, pine needles shaped like tassels are made using three ultrasonic stretching machines, each costing about US$5,000. The twigs are cut into standard lengths by machine or by hand and brushed to the desired shape. The workshop has more than 10 branch-twisting machines, 10 branch-binding machines and six trunk-binding machines. Optical fibers are bound on the PVC twigs manually. During peak season, 30 workers are responsible for putting together the branches, trunk and base. Art Star has a 10-member QC team. All cut twigs are sent to the dispatching room for counting and inspection. In addition, the company has a separate room for tests such as bulb aging tests and tree leaning tests. Adaptors are tested on a high precision automatic voltage regulator and a frequency converter. The company can also provide GS, CE, UL and BS certificates for the adaptors if required by buyers. After packaging, a random sample of 15 percent is checked.
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 All information contained in China Sourcing Reports is the result of exclusive, ground-level and definitive research conducted by Global Sources' analysts. Companies featured in these reports may or may not be clients of Global Sources.
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