Taiwan's Textile Machinery Makers Hold Optimistic Outlook
2011/08/29 | By Steve ChuangThe general consensus seems to be that most textile machinery makers in Taiwan have invested in product improvement to build a sound global reputation, as well as contribute to the growth of the industry over the past decades.
Driven by global economic recovery, the sector exported US$562 million in products in 2010, up 52.2% from US$381 million recorded a year earlier and contributing 3.4% to Taiwan's total machinery exports of US$17.214 billion, according to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI).
The textile machinery sector continued to grow this year, with aggregate exports in the first fourth months totaling US$218 million for a 26.1% increase from US$173 million posted during the same period of last year. Aside from sewing machines, buyers are also sourcing dyeing machines, knitting machines, yarn machines and auxiliary equipment.
The recently implemented Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, signed between Taiwan and China, buoys many in the industry amid optimism towards the future. With the ECFA reducing duties on over 500 Taiwan-made items, including textile machinery, and China along with Hong Kong being the biggest buyers of Taiwan-made textile machinery, Taiwan's makers of textile machinery now are better poised to compete, a scenario made more promising by rising economies in southeastern and southwestern Asia, where demand for such machinery should also increase.
Atics
Atics Industrial Corp. has been making zippers and related products since its inception in 1970 with two factories in Taiwan, offering a variety of zippers in polyester, molded plastic, metal, as well as invisible zippers, sliders, components, and zipper-making machines and parts, with monthly output of around 10 million feet of long chain zippers.
The veteran maker is noted for efficiency, mainly due to the president Susan Lui's consistent dedication to adoption, implementation of modern management techniques over the past decades. By consistently optimizing production, delivery and customer relations, the company has effectively improved efficiency and flexibility in production to set itself apart from peers.
Totally committed to quality, Liu confirms that every in-house QC engineer is repeatedly retrained to uphold quality, coupled with by-the-book QC measures strictly implemented in the factory. In addition to spot checks throughout production and pre-delivery inspections by QC engineers, the ISO-900-certified company also draws on computer technologies to help operators reduce defects.
Consummate OEM (original equipment manufacturing) capability is a product of the company's efforts on consistent improvement. With sound management and quality control, the company can handle integrated production from design to manufacturing, as well as guarantee buyers top quality, prompt delivery and competitive prices. This maker, backed by expertise in zippers and zipper-making machines, can advise customers on material properties and production methodologies to help them develop marketable, cost-efficient products.
The company is known among customers in the U.S., Canada, Japan and West Europe, with most of output exported.
Career Industry
Career Industry Corp. is one of Taiwan's leading suppliers of paper-core making machines.
Established in 1982, the company supplies turnkey machines to enable operators to produce wide-ranging paper cores, tubes, as well as cut, wind, slit, glue, laminate paper products to turn out items as paper tubes for rolls of paper-towels.
Known for supplying high quality, performance machines, the maker, for example, offers a hot-melt glue coating & laminating system equipped with a hot-melt glue mechanism developed by U.S.'s Nordson, as well as meeting applicable eco-protection standards.
The system handles various kraft paper, plastic film, metal foil and textiles to produce tags, labels, tapes, non-woven fabrics, healthcare materials, PU foam, PE, PVC. With improved designs, high-quality glue nozzles and coating rollers, the system has maximum coating speed of 120 meter/minute at thickness from 15g/m2 to 200g/m2.
After nearly three decades, the company has delivered hundreds of machines to global customers, among which are such heavyweights as Formosa Plastics Group, Asia Chemical Corporation, Chin Tung Chemical Industrial, Four Pillars Enterprise, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), New Toyo Int'l Holdings Ltd., Yunnan Hongta Group, and Rong Sheng Chemical Fiber Group.
Few peers are on par with Career Industry in terms of global clientele, who are familiar with the maker's reputation in China, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain, Lebanon, Russia, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador etc., not least because Career Industry supplies products rivaling those from Germany and Japan but with better prices.
Shyh Yen
Established in 1990, Shyh Yen Machinery Co., Ltd. has a solid reputation in turnkey equipment for non-woven fabric production.
Company president Huang Ching-chih claims that the company is the largest supplier of such machines in Taiwan by output, whose product range covers non-woven fabric making machines, turnkey air through non-woven fabric machinery, bale braking machines, fiber opening machines, slitting and winding machines, EDGE picking machines, fusible machines, automatic feeder machines, carding machines, cross lapper machines, drying ovens (gas burner) etc.
Being engineering-oriented, the maker has consistently sharpened competitiveness through technology and product development partnerships with, for example, the Hong Kong-based The England Industries Ltd., the efforts of which have enabled the versatile company to successfully apply different technologies to produce machines for turning out sewing fiber, filtration fiber, cushion stuffing, shoulder pads, bra cups, respirators, as well as stuffing cotton and soundproofing fabrics for car interiors.
Another notable example is the newly developed oven with more durable structure developed for double-layer, air-through non-woven fabrics for a wider range of applications as making upper layers of mattresses and filtration media.
Mainly targeting the mid-to-lower segment, the company supplies machines that sell for up to 50% less than competing models made in Germany and Japan, which are generally seen as superior, but being functionally competitive, hence attracting ample price-sensitive buyers from emerging countries as China, Thailand, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Africa, Libya, Lebanon, Indonesia, Republic of Dominica, Kuwait, and Romania, says Huang, adding that products are also shipped to Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
Charng Ge
Charng Ge Enterprise Co., Ltd. is also a notable maker of turnkey fabric-making and processing equipment, including fabric beam storage equipment, fabric inspectors, fiberglass-fabric winding machines, fabric packing machines, fabric connecting machines, tacky cleaners, fabric dryers, roll 3D storage systems, fabric embossing calendars, embossing roll storage equipment, beam equipment, automatic fabric unwinding and packing systems, suction-type fabric dryers, PCB fabric winders, test mixer rolls etc.
The company's machines are sought after in Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia for fine quality and reasonable prices, states the chairman Lee Wen-hsing, who attributes much of the success to steady R&D efforts to enhance product functionality, which has paid off judging from rapid globalization of market over the past few years.
Lee also attributes being an OEM since 2005 of fabric-winding machines for a Japanese buyer to providing a solid basis for business building, as well as helping to strengthen world-caliber corporate image and capabilities.
| Taiwan's Exports of Machinery by Category in 2010 | ||||
| Category | Export Value | Share | Export Value for 2010 | Yearly Growth Rate |
| Machine Tools | US$2.961B. | 17.2% | US$1.743B. | 69.9% |
| Plastic & Rubber Machinery | US$1.170 B. | 6.8% | US$747M. | 56.7% |
| Other Special Machinery | US$1.121 B. | 6.5% | US$737M. | 52.1% |
| Pumps, Compressors, Fans | US$965M. | 5.6% | US$662M. | 45.6% |
| Bearings, Gears, Ball Screws | US$927M. | 5.4% | US$538M. | 72.4% |
| Valves & Parts | US$925M. | 5.4% | US$669M. | 38.2% |
| Paper Making, Printing Machinery | US$790M. | 4.6% | US$452M. | 74.6% |
| Parts & Components | US$784M. | 4.6% | US$415 m. | 88.7% |
| Textile Macinery | US$580M. | 3.4% | US$381M. | 52.2% |
| Woodworking Machines | US$562M. | 3.3% | US$362 m. | 55.2% |
| Sewing Machines, Leather & Shoes Making Machines | US$494M. | 2.9% | US$313M. | 58.0% |
| Molds & Dies | US$459M. | 2.7% | US$410M. | 11.8% |
| Food & Packaging Machines | US$419M. | 2.4% | US$302M. | 38.5% |
| Others | US$5.05B. | 29.3% | US$3.613B. | 39.8% |
| Total | US$17.214B. | 100.0% | US$11.351B. | 51.7% |