Makers Gearing Up to Sustain Viable, Profitable Operations

The plastic extrusion machinery sector in Taiwan goes back some four decades, with local manufacturers having accumulated over three decades of experience. Many major makers in Taiwan have been honing skills to develop and produce wide-ranging, high-value-added items to meet custom specifications worldwide.

The local machinery makers have had success to develop machinery featuring high operating speed that helps raise production efficiency. And developing high-value-added products has enabled Taiwan makers to penetrate markets in both industrialized nations as well as developing economies in Southeast Asia.

The government-backed Plastics Industry Development Center (PIDC) says the number of suppliers of plastic and rubber processing machinery in Taiwan exceeds 250, most of whom turn out plastic injection-molding machinery and whose output accounts for three-fourths of the output in Taiwan, followed by extrusion machines at approximately 25%.

The Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI) says that Taiwan-made plastics and rubber processing machines are mainly exported to China and Hong Kong, the United States, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Germany, South Korea, and Canada.

C.C. Wang, vice president of TAMI, says exports of Taiwan-made plastic and rubber processing machines dropped modestly last year due to surging material prices and the appreciation of the NT-dollar against greenback, with such downturn having reversed since the beginning of 2008. TAMI's latest tallies show the exports of Taiwan-made plastic and rubber processing machinery grew 10.7% year-on-year to reach US$440.16 million in the first five months of this year.

Spiral Pipe Extrusion Line

Sun Yu Technology Co., Ltd. is a highly specialized maker of plastic extrusion machines in Taiwan, whose 20-plus years of mechanical development experience helps the company to capably build uniquely designed products.

The company mainly produces turnkey equipment to extrude corrugated pipe, hose; rigid spiral pipes; form spiral pipes; as well as automatic and semi-automatic coiling machines.

Quick Tooling Change

The company says it is capable of designing compact machines that are easy to operate and maintain, as well as featuring quick-change tooling that enables highly-efficient production of items of different size and shape.

H.M. Huang, general manager, says her company is dedicated to innovation, the only strategy that can generate worthwhile profits for customers. The company has been over the past several years developing innovative manufacturing skills and machines, at the same time trying to find the balance between minimizing production cost and high-quality products.

Sun Yu's products are widely used to turn out pipes for automotive, construction, building, industrial and medical applications. The company says it will continue to build innovative pipe making machinery to meet special applications.

The company recently successfully developed a machine to produce PE pipes containing optical fibers. This cutting-edge machine, alongside rigid spiral pipe extrusion lines, will be showcased at the 2008 Taipei International Plastics and Rubber Industry Show slated for Sept. 18-22 at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall.

Sun Yu is currently developing an advanced pipe extrusion line for the medical industry. "I think demand for such pipe extrusion line for the medical industry will be considerable as Taiwan and its neighbors are eagerly promoting medical-tourism," says Huang.

The company exports half of its output, mainly to Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

Co-extrusion Blown Film Machine

Southeast Machinery Co., a highly experienced maker of plastic co-extrusion blown film machines in Taiwan, has diversified into plastic waste recycling machines. The rising eco-awareness globally has helped the company to generate significant profits via producing plastic waste recycling machines.

The company began producing two-stage pelletizers at a factory in Anping, Tainan City, southern Taiwan about two decades ago. It has moved its factory twice due to expansion, and currently runs a wholly-owned, 50,400 square feet plant in Anding Hsiang, Tainan County.

With an in-house R&D team, Southeast Machinery focuses on making innovative products through technological integration, which enables it to ship a variety of plastic-processing machinery and turnkey plants.

The company mostly produces two turnkey lines: mono-layer and multi-layer co-extrusion film blowing machines and plastic waste recycling machines, with the latter accounting for 60% of its output, most of which are shipped to Thailand, Latin America and Africa.

Southeast Machinery says it can expertly design high-end ball screws for its plastic-processing machines to uphold high quality, with such design specialization helping the company to build considerable customer trust at home and abroad.

Expanding Global Marketing

Besides selling through distributors in Thailand, Russia, and Ecuador, the company is negotiating with an Indian distributor to further expand marketing.

Having been raising its local content rate over the past few years, the company has achieved a 50% rate, and expects to further raise such rate by adding more advanced production equipment.

Trying to offset surging global prices of raw materials as iron and steel, the company has already raised quotations in the first half of this year. Being able to deliver highly reliable and quality products has helped the company not only land repetitive orders, but also quell possible complaints about rising product prices.

The company says it has had a loyal customer base in Ecuador and Thailand for some 20 years. And new orders received in the past several months have the company looking to achieving a 50% annual sales growth this year.

Southeast Machinery says it is capable of designing and producing custom-made products: having just delivered in the middle of this year a three-layer co-extrusion film-blowing machine for packaging bags. The large size of such machines prohibits the company from stocking the same until orders are actually received.

Besides supplying single machines, Southeast Machinery also delivers turnkey lines to Thailand and Ecuador, which includes consultation on production methods, plant layout, and technology transfer.

One of the company's best sellers is the 55mm LDPE co-extrusion blown-film machine with oscillating take-off unit, which features 55mm to 65mm in screw diameter, 250mm and 350mm in die head diameter, with optional equipment including manual quick-change screen, auto loader, surface treating equipment, air compressor and rotating die.

Co-extrusion Blow Molding Machine

With over three decades of manufacturing experience, Sum Eoss Corp. specializes in developing and producing high-value-added co-extrusion blow-molding machines. The company can skillfully design custom-made machines to help end-users cut production costs and enhance profitability, Sum Eoss' ultimate goal.

Patented Products

The company's long-term effort to develop innovative technologies has helped Sum Eoss to win many patents in Taiwan, including for die heads and ball screws. Its seasoned in-house R&D team enables the company to develop powerful PLC (programmable logic control) system for its line.

Sum Eoss says it can develop specialized machines to handle new, advanced plastics. Recently the company developed a specialized machine to produce three-layer chemical-holding barrels.

The company's specialization allows it to expertly offer turnkey equipment: a few months ago the company just delivered turnkey equipment to a local manufacturer of large chemical-holding barrels; while for overseas projects, it can send professional engineers to help set up production lines.

Sum Eoss recently developed electric-powered blow-molders to turn out 5cc- to 20- liter bottles and barrels. Driven by electric servomotor, instead of by hydraulic transmission system, such molders are eco-friendly and suitable for dust-free rooms.

Besides being able to meet customer demand for energy-efficient, efficient, quiet and precision machinery, the company also continually improves exterior design, auto control system, service life, and enhanced production capacity.

Fully Booked Production

The steady influx of foreign orders will drive up sales considerably this year, with the company reporting orders to keep production lines fully booked till the end of next year.

Sum Eoss mostly exports to the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, North America, China, central and southern Americas, Australia, and New Zealand, and says that it is looking for qualified distributors overseas, in addition to its agent in Malaysia.

Despite concentrating on own-brand products, the company also accepts OEM and ODM orders, as well as possesses the expertise to design machinery to help customers cut production costs and boost production efficiency.

Always offering products and services to help customers enhance profitability, the company continues to make improvements in terms of upgraded automation, application versatility, and uniqueness.

Price-competitive Machinery

Tai Shin Plastic Machinery Co., Ltd. is a highly specialized maker of extrusion lines and pelletizing equipment in Taiwan, who, since its inception, has focused on price-competitiveness, rather than expand output capacity and product variety.

The company mainly produces machinery to extrude flexible hoses reinforced with spiral yarn, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pelletizing lines, co-extrusion lines for soft/rigid spiral pipes, twin-screw extrusion lines for PVC pipes and profiles, and extrusion lines for spring-wire hoses.

The company's co-extrusion line turns out soft/rigid spiral pipes with two-inch inner diameter, with each machine capable of rolling out 1.5 meters of plastic pipes per minute, three times more than other Taiwan-made models.

Using key parts imported from advanced nations enables the company to uphold high mechanical quality, while its in-house R&D team capably develops innovative products: the company says its extrusion line for spring-wire hoses is unique in Taiwan. This line produces one-piece spring-wire-reinforced hoses without having to worry about breakage.

Tai Shin exports 90% of its output to Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Emphasizing that it will not expand production for its own sake, the company continues to focus on high-quality products, as well as admitting raising capacity is beyond its means. In short, the company concentrates on producing high-quality and innovative products to attract attention globally.

Blown Film Extruders

Founded in the early 1980s, Jenn Chong Plastics Machinery Works Co., Ltd. is widely recognized as a prominent maker of high-quality extrusion lines for the global plastic industry.

Having developed a variety of plastic extrusion lines to meet specific applications globally, the company has a sizable range: complete blown film extrusion system for single- or multi-layer film, monofilament extrusion lines, flat-yarn making machine, fibrillated yarn making machine, extruded net making machine, strapping brand making machine, and plastic extruding machines, including turnkey equipment for plastic bags and woven bags.

With all its extrusion machines meeting major global standards, the company says it obtained ISO9002 certification in 1998, ISO9001 in 2000, and CE mark in 2004, showing the high quality and reliability of its products.

Improving With Advanced Technologies

Acknowledging that using advanced technologies is the only way to upgrade product standards, Jenn Chong has been eagerly sharpening manufacturing technologies.

Backed by an in-house R&D department, the company develops innovative, high-quality extrusion lines that have helped to build considerable confidence in customers, who total more than 500 in over 70 nations worldwide. The company notes it always offers rapid response to meet fast-changing demand of global customers.

The company has been developing and improving in recent years monofilament and multifilament machines, which are suitable for making PP/PE, PVC, nylon (PA6, 66, 6/66 copolymer) and PET for various industrial applications. Jenn Chong has also significantly improved its multifilament spin-draw plant for UDY, POY, and FDY, from simple two-end/one-position to more complicated 32-end/eight-position spinneret beam.