Taiwan throws off a depression - Part 2

Invited by the Taiwanese government to see how some of the country’s electronic components are made, I joined an international party of journalists for a series of factory-guided tours round plants making products ranging from miniature cameras to plugs and interconnects. This is the second and final report of that trip.

One company that aims to be number one in China as soon as possible is E-Lead Electronic Co. The ever-growing complexity and need for in-vehicle electronics has meant that this is an organisation to buck the trend of diversification, resist its temptations and stay firmly focused on equipment for motor vehicles from entertainment systems to Bluetooth, navigation systems to vehicle remote diagnosis.

E-Lead’s policy is to concentrate on what it calls is the ‘human nature’ of its high-tech products, meaning they must be intuitive to use. To ensure the range remains price competitive, the latest automatic equipment is used for processing from soldering to assembly.

This streamlining of production is common to all the factories we visited and with this company it applies to two plants in China and one in Thailand which between them ensure an output that is sent all round the world.

Although it, too, reports a slowing of business, a recent deal with Nissan, which is supplying vehicles to Indonesia, has put something of brake on sliding fortunes.

The method of manufacture is to create standard product suitable for all vehicles and then to make the necessary changes to meet the needs of the individual car maker. Many of these designs have had to contain up to 40% of local content before they are accepted. It is here that research and development, on which the company places a huge reliance, plays a large part.

Most of the mainstream car makers are represented and there is hardly a maker that would not be familiar with at least one product from E-Lead. For example, 2000 displays a month go to China - mostly to be fitted to Volkswagen vehicles - while 30 to 40% go for fitting into Audis.

A vast range of connectors is produced by Apex Precision Technology. Coaxial fittings, A/V types, DIN plugs and sockets, antenna plugs, waterproof versions of many types and security devices are all produced at a factory where a variety of highly specialised machine tools such as lathes, grinders, casters, printers, CNC machines and plastic moulding equipment are all fed with RoHS-compliant materials but just to make totally sure no lead or cadmium escape, a special multi-thousand-dollar machine scans all the output to ensure it meets specifications.

Users such as Toyota and Yamaha demand this purity so not only does Apex meet all the required international standards, it recycles much of its metals and plastics to maintain its own environmental targets.

Selling under the brand name of PLT, other companies such as JAE, Hitachi, Misami, Molex, Fanuc, Mitsubishi Electric and Tyco take much of the 4000 m² plant’s output. In addition to its connectors, Apex also makes a range of control knobs, many of which are sold under its own name.

With a driving force of ‘innovation and diversification’ as its guiding principle, it takes about 120 days to develop a new product whether it be plastic or metal based. This, yet again, underlines the importance Taiwanese companies place on R&D.

This rapid development time is made easier because the plant is divided into five areas of: connectors to military specs; mould, machines, design and manufacture; auto controllers and wiring assemblies; wireless communication and security monitoring systems; digital RF technologies.

Markets are global with Taiwan buying 40% of production and the majority of the remainder being shared between Europe, Japan, the US, Canada and Asia. Products even reach Australia via Austran, a Tyco company. Although there is a sales outlet in Shanghai, there is no possibility of manufacturing there because, says the company, it is not so easy to control quality, so Taiwan will remain the sole manufacturing plant.

Last year, Apex made $25 million and this year the forecast is for $22 million, a level that is a reflection on the recession. However, the company is confident that this downturn is a minor bend in the road towards its philosophy of faith and responsibility and to ‘keep manufacturing in Taiwan’.

KS Terminals (KST) manufactures a range of over 10,000 terminals and connectors including electrical, motor vehicle, electronic, household and wire harnesses that are sold to more than 60 countries worldwide from its 60,000 m² plant.

Great store is set by the reliability and longevity of its products so the quality control laboratory plays a major role in the production process. Products are tested in vibration and high humidity machines, checked for their ability to withstand excessive dielectric voltages and inspected under a microscope while other machines ensure easy and complete insertion/withdrawal of plugs into sockets to make sure each device retains its international certification.

R&D again plays a major role and at KST this department makes the long- and middle-term development schedule including new product research, production techniques and their evaluation and, with the help of computer software, ensures that all aspects of production retain their competitive edge.

Electronic cameras have found an ever-growing range of uses as they have become smaller and capable of greater resolution in colour and black and white. From broadcasting quality devices to units small enough to be installed unobtrusively into motor vehicles, the digital camera has brought with it a whole new era of entertainment, surveillance and safety.

Sitting comfortably among a host of other electronic companies is Mintron Enterprise, one of the major CCD camera manufacturers in the world, that over its 30 years of existence and experience has seen steady development in this specialised area culminating in its latest dual-channel, wide-dynamic, super-sensitive device.

These cameras are widely used for security and roadway surveillance, engineering research, satellite and aviation applications, land environment and underwater scans. One of the company’s main interests is in vehicle safety and last year it launched several systems designed to protect drivers and add driving confidence.

The systems included front and side collision warning, lane departure warning, blind spot warning and parking assist.

Its latest camera is claimed to solve the problem of conventional images made difficult to see in situations of high contrast. The camera, with a 1:100,000 wide dynamic range, can simultaneously ‘see’ a detailed picture with no time-lagging image when monitoring fast-moving objects.

The device has three-dimensional digital noise reduction (3D DNR) to provide no noise and high-sensitivity images and still retain the true colour of objects when they are under low light. The camera can handle bright to back light and still maintain an even image. The 14-bit colour chip enhances colours and greyscale images to make them more natural and three-dimensional looking.

Other features include CCD/CIS II interlace progressive scan, ITU-656 output: fullD1 (27 MHz) interlace (720i) and SVGA (36 MHz) progressive (720p) on screen display and all this comes from the company’s smallest board module at just 22 by 26 mm.

Since its foundation in 1976, Mintron has notched up an impressive list of ‘firsts’. In 1985, it produced a black and white CCD camera - the first in Taiwan - and two years later it produced a colour device. A DSP colour camera was produced in 1995 and by 2001 this had advanced to become a four-minute recording device. Finally this year, it released the 14-bit super wide dynamic camera.

While there are other ‘firsts’, these are some of the significant ones. Maybe it has something to do with the company’s philosophy of ‘treat employees as beloved families, treat customers as dear brothers and treat suppliers as old friends’.

Taiwan has always been keen to develop its own rather than rely on importing something that may not quite do the job for which it was intended. The history of many electronic companies is littered with ‘firsts’, many of them of world significance.

For example, founded in 1975, the GW Corporation, also known as GW Instek and the Goodwill Instrument Co, lays claim to being the first manufacturer on the island to specialise in electrical and measuring instruments.

Today, as the biggest instrument provider in Taiwan, the company is heavily supported by a home industry, keen to buy locally and free from having to import. And just to make sure that no island company has to look overseas, Good Will has developed the country’s first digital storage oscilloscope.

This is just one of more than 300 products ranging from scopes, spectrum analysers, signal sources, basic test and measurement instruments to safety and monitoring systems.

Like so many high-tech companies in Taiwan, yet again it devotes around 10% of revenue to R&D with the result that its latest scope can sit proudly on any bench in the world.

The GDS-1000A digital storage instrument has 1 GS/s sampling and 2 Mpoint memory. The family of three includes 60, 100 and 150 MHz bandwidths. MemoryPrime technology is used to overcome problems of memory restraint so that high sample rates can be maintained over long periods without affecting performance.

A 5.6-in TFT display, SD memory card support and USB remote control are additional features designed to make the instrument capable of handling the complex signals of today. Although not specifically aimed at education, more than 2000 have already gone to teaching establishments while further sales have gone to Europe, Asia and China.

The company describes its scopes as ‘middle level’ - something between Tektronix and Agilent in cost and features, it says.

The almost 700 employees last year earned US$55 million with sales going to more than 70 countries.

Good Will takes a special pride in looking after its customers. There is ongoing consultation and two-way feedback that results in useful features and a mutual awareness of any shortcomings. This fits neatly into the company’s philosophy of ‘made to measure’.

There is little doubt that Taiwan relies almost as heavily on China as the rest of the world, especially in these times. All eyes are on this huge nation of consumer and industrial potential. Nowadays it is not so much a case of when America sneezes the world catches cold but when China signs an order the rest of the world cheers, stock markets rise and confidence floods nations.

That is not to say that Taiwan, in its own right, does not have secure and growing markets in most other parts of the world. It does and in the end it is these markets outside China that will ensure that this little island remains a leading player in the world of electronics.

Written by Mike Smyth, Editor, What’s New in Electronics.