Written by Chen Ren-yi, March5, 2019; Commercial Times
President Hsiao of Forwell is the current chairman of the committee of metal forming in TAMI. In the press conference of TIMTOS 2019, he said that due to the trade war between China and the US, the world economy is impacted, so business owners hold their steps on the investment programs. Among the many economies in the international markets, China itself is afflicted most due to the trade war and it is believed that China will utilize means to stimulate the domestic market.
Taiwan’s machinery suppliers used to focus on the Chinese domestic market, so the influence would not be obvious to Taiwan’s machinery suppliers. On the other hand, metal forming suppliers whose business is highly related to the electronic industry would be influenced by the trade war effect. Manufacturing industry in China is much advanced in the developed of smart machinery, robot technology, IOT, and AI compared with Taiwan, so they may improve their industrial productivity by adopting automation technology. This adoption effort can also reduce cost as well as increase competitiveness. As a result, the demand for automation is anticipated to grow in the near future.
Chairman Hsiao stated that, Taiwan’s metal forming machinery suppliers, while they also have their branches in China, have adopt smart manufacturing technology in the mainland by the wide application of IOT. This even includes the remote surveillance system for their external supply chains, thus they have established an integrated ecology of smart manufacturing. Their production lines contain onsite surveillance of forming machines in the manufacturing sites, which are connected with education program, occupational safety project, manufacturing facility, procedure management, and after-sales services via the IOT technology. With the transcendental management system, their Taiwan headquarters will follow the steps to accelerate the management in Taiwan.
Chairman Hsiao further emphasized that, since Taiwan’s metal forming machinery suppliers has been developing the servo pressing machine for over a decade, which is much profound in technology as well as added value compared with conventional mechanical press machines. Now the major consumers come from Japan and Europe, and the numbers are escalating. Besides, sensor is a key component in the smart servo press machines, so it is crucial to foster talents in processing simulation software and data collection algorithm. Moreover, talents with cross-disciplinary training are vital for the development of smart manufacturing. Their roles in the industry determine Taiwan’s leading roles in the world platform.
