New Fastener Show to Boost Fastener Industry's Global Presence: TFTA
Tainan fair to complement similar event held in Kaohsiung
2013/04/16 | By Steve ChuangFastener production is one of the landmark industries of southern Taiwan, where 1,000 manufacturers, related upstream suppliers, and processing service providers clustered in Tainan and Kaohsiung cities form a highly efficient supply chain. To boost the industry's global presence by exploiting this advantage, the Taiwan Fastener Trading Association (TFTA) is organizing a new trade fair, the International Fastener Show, Tainan, TAIWAN, scheduled for April 11-13 this year at the Commercial Exhibition Center Tainan in the city's Rende District.
Depressed 2012
Mainly because of global economic uncertainty and a persistently sagging market in the EU bloc, Taiwan's fastener industry suffered recessionary conditions in 2012.
According to the latest report issued by Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC), a local industry researcher, the industry's output value dropped 2% to NT$31 billion in the third quarter of 2012, compared to NT$31.5 billion a quarter earlier, and exports were down 2% to NT$28.8 billion.
The U.S. accounted for 38% of Taiwan's fastener exports in the third quarter of 2012, making it the largest buyer, followed by Germany (9%), Japan (6%), the Netherlands (5%), and the U.K. (4%). Fasteners exported to Japan commanded the highest average price of NT$98 per kilogram.
The MIRDC report concluded that in light of the economic slowdown in some emerging countries, persistent high unemployment in the EU bloc, and an increasingly uncertain global economy, the industry's output was expected to continue on a downward trend in the fourth quarter, with production falling to NT$30.8 billion and exports to edging down to NT$28.7 billion. Output value for the whole year is estimated at NT$123.3 billion, down 2% from 2011, with exports slipping 2% to NT$114.7 billion and imports falling 6% to NT$4.7 billion.
Compared with other industries--PCs and smartphones, for example—Taiwan's fastener industry did relatively well in 2012 and, with the brightening global economic outlook and the effect of the new fastener show, will likely resume growing this year.
Inspiration for New Show
In an interview with CENS, TFTA chairman Jim Chen (who is also president of the Tainan-based Hwa Hsing Screw Industry Co.) and TFTA advisor William Liao shed lights on why the International Fastener Show is being held in Tainan, what it will be like, and what it aims to achieve.
TFTA, Chen pointed out, was initially a society formed by a few of Taiwan's experienced fastener traders more than 20 years ago and was formally registered as a legal association in 2003; today, it has a large membership comprising traders, manufacturers, and suppliers. The chairman came up with the idea of the show as a means of enhancing the membership's solidarity and generating more substantial benefits for members. The idea immediately earned a positive response from TFTA members and ex-chairmen--especially Liao, who is now the president of Fastener World Inc., an exhibition agent and the co-organizer of the new show.
“The proposal to set up the show won the support of Tainan City Mayor William Lai, right after it was submitted to the Tainan City Government,” Chen said. “The mayor has promised to provide all necessary support, including road widening, environmental beautification, parking lot arrangement, transportation, and free promotional banners.”
Chen mentioned that the mayor hopes to see the new show become a regional feature that can help promote local cuisine, tourism, and economic development for Tainan. “Just like the computer trade fairs that are held annually in northern Taiwan,” he commented, “the upcoming International Fastener Show is expected to boost the image of the industry and spur economic development in southern Taiwan.”
From another aspect, Chen went on to say, a professional trade fair for fasteners is truly needed in Tainan, considering that nearly 80% of all Taiwanese makers in the line are located within an area of 50 square kilometers around the city. “Taiwanese fastener suppliers take part in overseas trade fairs to seek out new orders every year, and have found that the marginal benefits are diminishing,” noted Chen. He feels that they can hardly take all of their products to display at foreign fairs—not to mention the time and money consumed by exhibiting overseas—and this often keeps them from renting bigger booths.
“A professional, international fastener exhibition right in Tainan will make it possible for Taiwanese suppliers to put all of their products on display more economically and to occupy larger booths with more impressive décor that will draw buyers' attention more effectively,” Chen said. “They will even be able to invite foreign buyers to their factories to show off how they are producing fasteners and to exhibit their core competencies, making it easier for them to attract new orders.”
Locating the International Fastener Show in Tainan, Chen added, also conforms to the global trend of holding professional trade fairs where the suppliers are. “In this time of globalization driven by information technology, time is money,” he emphasized. “Exhibitions today are more like a supplier-oriented marketplace which can better help participants exchange information with each other.”
A second-generation company owner, Chen knows the importance of learning from experienced experts in the industry; this is why he has joined hands with Liao, who is an ex-chairperson of TFTA and has more than 20 years of practice in running an exhibition agency, in organizing the show. “At a time when many old company founders are passing their firms down to their children, the young company owners need a chance to learn and develop,” the chairman noted. “As the TFTA chairman, I am trying to take advantage of the experience of former chairmen to work out something that is worth passing down to the industry's newcomers.”
Features of the Show
The new show will have a plethora of features designed to establish its global profile and its clout in the industry, according to TFTA advisor William Liao.
For one thing, Liao pointed out, it will provide 600 booths and aim to attract 400 exhibitors from Taiwan and abroad, 85% of them manufacturers and 15% traders. Products on display will encompass not just a wide range of nuts, screws, bolts, washers, rivets, studs, etc., but also a full line of machinery and instruments for fastener manufacturing, testing, electroplating, and heat treating, as well as wire rods and related materials, all of which will be laid out in an orderly and systematic fashion so that they will be easy to find.
“We look forward to making this show the largest, most professional trade fair for fasteners in Taiwan, as well as a one-stop shopping platform for buyers from around the world,” Liao stated. “Arranged factory tours for foreign buyers are also among its features.”
The show will also feature up to 19 seminars during its 4-day run, with a number of industry experts such as Adrine Price, a representative of the applied engineering department of Germany's omniTechnik; Edward Park and Aexlander Kuan, SPS procurement executive and manager, respectively; Scott Camp, executive vice president of Fastenal Co. of the U.S.; and Volker Lederer, president of Germany's Lederer GmbH presenting lectures on topics related to fastening technology and market development.
Liao went on to say that the EFDA (European Fastener Distribution Association) and NFDA (National Fastener Distribution Association) both give high credence to the International Fastener Show, and have promised to organize buyer delegations to attend. “Thanks to the TFTA's long-time partnerships with these two associations,” Liao noted, “the chairman of both EFDA and NFDA's will deliver lectures during the seminar events.”
To assure that the show serves as a relaxing and effective place to do business, the organizers will arrange spacious and attractive public areas for business meetings, education, and dining. “Additionally,” Liao stressed, “we will arrange accommodation in downtown hotels for up to 900 foreign buyers free of charge, and will provide the best information services we can.” He added that some 200 buyers from over 160 companies have already completed online booking for these services, and that the number is expected to surge after February.
So Far, So Good
Arrangements and promotional activities for the show are going well, so far. Liao reported that a total of 530 booths had been booked by 249 different exhibitors as of the end of December 2012, and that the remaining booths are expected to be sold out by the end of February. “Booth booking is even stronger than we expected,” he said, especially since activities promoting it got under way only in late May 2012.
The organizers send hundreds of emails every day to invite potential buyers to the show, and they have promoted it on three major fastener websites and in 15 domestic and international professional fastener magazines. The number of visitors to the show's official website (http://www.taiwan-fastenershowtainan.com), which is available in English, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese, had exceeded 80,000 from over 100 different countries by the end of December 2012. “According to online registrations,” Liao noted, “a lot of the website visitors will come to the show as buyers.” The organizers will help exhibitors arrange personal meetings with the buyers.
“We are confident that the show will become the world's fourth-largest fastener trade fair by number of booths when it debuts in 2013, and will hopefully overtake the current No. 3 in Las Vegas in the near future,” Liao proudly said.
Working Together to Leverage Competitiveness
The International Fastener Show Tainan, TAIWAN is not the first such to be held on the island. The biennial Taiwan International Fastener Show (TIFS) was inaugurated in Kaohsiung in 2010.
TIFS is organized jointly by the Taiwan Industrial Fastener Institute and Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), with support from the Kaohsiung City Government. Its second iteration was held in March last year, with 230 exhibitors and around 20,000 visitors, including more than 1,500 professional buyers from 63 countries.
There are some doubts among industry insiders about whether the two shows are being held too close together, or whether contention between the two might have a negative impact on the industry's development.
Chen believes, however, that many of the doubters will be won over by TFTA's meticulous and well-organized pre-show plans, including arrangements for buyer accommodation as well as association conferences and seminars on market trends, quality, and R&D capability. This attention to detail reflects the association's devotion to helping Taiwanese fastener makers explore business opportunities worldwide.
Chen also believes that the two shows will not compete but will complement each other, since each will be held every two years so that each year will have a show. In this way, they can reinforce each other by injecting growth momentum into the industry annually.
“We look for better development of the industry and for the generation of benefits for TFTA's members, and that's why we decided to organize the new show for April this year,” said Chen. “If our International Fastener Show proves itself a successful business platform, it and the TIFS will be able to serve as two growth propellers for the industry in the future.”
In addition to the upcoming show, Chen also has other plans to help industry insiders sharpen their competitive advantages and explore foreign markets in 2013. The TFTA, he said, will make use of the resources it has built up with European partners to help members revive their growth.
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| Period | 2011 | Q2, 2012 | Q3, 2012 | Q4, 2012 (forecast) | 2012 (forecast) | ||||||
| Value | Value | QoQ Growth | Value | QoQ Growth | Valuestrong> | YoY Growth | Value | YoY Growth | |||
| Output | 126.4 | 31.5 | 5% | 31.0 | -2% | 30.8 | -1% | 123.3 | -2% | ||
| Imports | 4.5 | 1.2 | 10% | 1.2 | 1% | 1.3 | 13% | 4.7 | 6% | ||
| Exports | 117.5 | 29.3 | 5% | 28.8 | -2% | 28.7 | -1% | 114.7 | -2% | ||
| Scale of Domestic Market | 13.3 | 3.4 | 7% | 3.4 | 0% | 3.5 | 4% | 13.4 | 0% | ||