Autobiography of Layard Lai, Chairman of Layana
From Rural Upbringing to Founding Layana Cutlery

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(I) Family Background & Upbringing: Learning Resilience from the Soil

I was born in 1958, blood type O, into a family that had farmed the fertile plains of Changhua, Taiwan for generations.

My father lived to the age of 93. Throughout his life, he remained hardworking, honest, and humble. During agricultural off-seasons, he took odd jobs in construction or fishing to support our family. In his later years, he was honored with the Changhua Model Father Award.

My mother was a remarkably resilient and loving woman who married into our family at age 16. She worked tirelessly between the rice paddies and the kitchen, always eating last and ensuring her children were fed and educated. She too was honored as a Model Mother by the city.

We grew up in a traditional mud-brick farmhouse surrounded by rice fields. Running barefoot under the summer sun, tending water buffaloes, and swimming in streams shaped my earliest memories.

“What this land gave me was not merely physical strength, but an enduring gratitude for life, an unwavering work ethic, and the resilience to never give up.”

(II) From Apprentice to Entrepreneur: The Birth of Layana Company

At age 16, I left my hometown to become a tooling and die mold apprentice. In the booming industrial era of Taiwan, lathes, milling machines, and EDM wire-cutting equipment became my constant companions.

At age 20, I enlisted in military service as a squad leader in the Army Combat Engineers, learning operational discipline, teamwork, and crisis leadership.

Upon discharge at age 25, my mother entrusted me with NT$200,000 of her hard-earned savings. On September 1, 1982, Layana Company was officially founded in Changhua.

In those early days, I served as salesman, engineer, QC inspector, and delivery driver. I strictly adhered to one principle: “Quality First, Punctual Delivery.” Through decades of relentless dedication, Layana evolved from a small stamping workshop into a certified global tier supplier of high-precision metal components for automotive, medical, and aerospace industries.

(III) Founding Layana Cutlery: Precision Engineering for Dining Health

After thirty years in precision manufacturing, a thought frequently crossed my mind: “Our precision components travel inside machines worldwide, but can our finest craftsmanship directly safeguard the health and well-being of families on their daily dining tables?”

In the early 2000s, disposable chopsticks and cheap melamine dinnerware were ubiquitous across Taiwan, raising widespread concerns over chemical bleaching, sulfur dioxide, and toxic plasticizer migration.

As precision stamping specialists, we understood the metallurgical purity of stainless steel better than anyone. Why shouldn’t everyday personal dining utensils meet the same stringent standards as precision automotive hardware?

With this mission, I created the “Layana Cutlery” brand. We applied automotive and surgical precision standards to tableware: selecting certified food-grade SUS 304 (18/8) stainless steel, patenting anti-roll ergonomic handles, and constructing a certified Green Factory in Lukang to ensure every utensil is crafted in an eco-friendly, clean manufacturing environment.

(IV) Future Outlook & Reflections: Green Manufacturing and Social Responsibility

Looking back on forty years of entrepreneurship, I express my deepest gratitude to my wife, Chao-Erh Yang, all our devoted colleagues, and our industry partners.

The true value of an enterprise lies not just in revenue, but in how much positive impact it creates for society. Layana Company will continue advancing progressive stamping and Industry 4.0 smart manufacturing, while Layana Cutlery champions food safety and plastic-free living.

“Be like ripe rice stalks in the field—the more fruitful they become, the lower they bow in humility. Work like precision molds in your hand—the finer the craft, the stronger the integrity.”