Taiwan Extrusion Machinery Makers Upgrade Mechanical Caliber to Fend Off Rivals

Despite fierce competition from mainland Chinese counterparts who have gradually taken bigger market shares from Taiwan-based plastic and rubber processing machinery-mainly injection molding machines, extruding machines and blow molding machines-the suppliers in Taiwan have been fending off such encroachment by enhancing their quality of product and service on various levels, whereby the efforts to upgrade have been paying off. In fact years of dedication in R&D of plastic extrusion machines designed for new applications have turned Taiwan into one of the world's most important supply bases in this field.

As is in the supply of many other product categories for export, Taiwan-based suppliers of mainly injection molding machines, extruding machines and blow molding machines are sought after by global buyers for offering high quality at reasonable prices. The fact is that, from 1998 to 2006, Taiwan's exports of such machines, usually accounting for 80% of the nation's total yearly production, doubled to US$939 million from US$463 million, indicative of significant progress made by Taiwan-based makers.

In 2006, China and Hong Kong together bought the largest portion or 42% of the above-mentioned machinery totaling some US$428.6 million of Taiwan's total exports, with Thailand buying some 6.0% and Vietnam 3.9%, or US$56.05 million and US$36.87 million respectively, being Taiwan's second-largest and third-largest export destinations.

Industry reports from various sources typically say that Taiwan-based suppliers and exporters have been, in a bid to go upmarket for better margins and to evade underselling rivals from emerging nations, feverishly trying to enhance product and service, with such improvement programs bearing tangible fruits: the suppliers of plastic processing machinery in Taiwan saw their exports to Japan and the U.S. in the first five months of 2007 significantly grow by 21.2% and 48.1%, respectively, from a year earlier.

Also the Taiwan-based suppliers, often reported to be more service-oriented, market-savvy and street-smart than their S.E. Asian and mainland Chinese counterparts, have been stepping up their overall service caliber, making sure to deliver timely, professional response to customer inquiry. Such upgraded service quality has effectively drawn considerable attention from European buyers, a key first step in developing export. Another piece of encouraging news is that, in the first five months of 2007, exports of plastic-processing machinery to Poland leapt 156%.

As any supplier based in Taiwan who has been battling emerging nation rivals driven by the ruthless realities of globalization and survival instincts in China for example, many exporters of plastic extrusion machinery have seen their shares in the Asian market gradually eroded by Chinese competitors. Such trend has forced Taiwan-based makers to look for greener pastures-turning to not only refocus promotional efforts in Japan, the U.S. and Europe, but also equally importantly continue to develop machinery designed for more complex, new uses. In fact, certain makers have been planning to turn out extrusion machines for specific applications, ones that produce various polymeric items likely addressing needs in an age of heightened ecological awareness, rapid depletion of natural resources, global warming, etc.

Machine Extruding XPS Planks as Ace

Poly Machine Works Co., Ltd., after considerable and intensive R&D, has successfully created a machine to extrude XPS (polystyrene) foam planks, effectively dealing an ace to notch up another win over its Chinese counterparts in the global market.

Poly Machine was founded in 1969 in Taipei City, northern Taiwan, and over the years has evolved into one of the most seasoned producers of laminators and machinery making EPS (expandable polystyrene) and EPE (expandable polyethylene) products in Taiwan. Plus the company claims that it is also the first in Taiwan to develop foam material and machinery to make such material.

Backed by its strong production capability, Poly Machine has built comprehensive product lineups, including machines to extrude EPS and LDPE (low density polyethylene) sheets, EPE foam sheets, EPE tubes and rods, EPE foam nets, EPS disposable containers; laminating machines to make food packaging materials, cement-holding bags; heavy-duty laminators; and other peripheral equipment.

The company has exported, under its "Poly" brand, products to Japan, Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East and Latin America. Featuring high performance and quality, the company's machines are relatively sought-after among foreign buyers.

Despite having already built a leading position in the field, Jin-chiu Chang, general manager of Poly Machine, says that one of its most important corporate goals is to keep designing plastic extrusion machines to handle new applications. Even more relevant is that such corporate target is not mere hype to satisfy owners or attract attention of customers: the company has unveiled its newly-developed Expanded XPS Plank Making Machine.

According to Chang, XPS planks or boards, mainly installed in walls, are of waterproof, thermal-insulating and soundproof material, as well as featuring mechanical properties that would make walls more shock-resistant. Such wall-material has proven increasingly popular worldwide, especially being practical and useful in regions of extreme cold, where harvestable timber growths are rare and the thermal-insulating properties of the XPS material are desirable, which drove Poly to invest in a program to develop the machine.

Better Automation via Improved PLC

For better automation and steady production capacity, Poly's Expanded XPS Plank Making Machine is developed with a user-friendly interface, improved PLC (programmable logic controller) programs and a high-profile servo-motor outsourced from Italy. Besides, the machine features a "Tandem System," which is a combination of two extrusion machines that can effectively enhance quality of output with extended cooling time. The machine can roll out XPS boards with thickness of between 20mm and 100mm, as well as capable of a steady capacity of 500kg an hour.

"The new machine is our latest, proud achievement as it reflects Poly's strong know-how in foam product making machines," Chang says. "Moreover, another Poly's advantage is being acutely aware of any emerging demand in the global market." In fact, Poly has leveraged such advantage to maximum benefit-building itself into a leading maker in the field in Taiwan by designing products that help the company to achieve product differentiation, widening its lead over counterparts from China and Korea.

Excellent products are only as good as their marketing effort, so Chang says that Poly will showcase its XPS plank making machine at the Plastic & Rubber Industry Exhibition 2008 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam this May, as well as the K-Plastics & Rubber Exhibition 2008 in Dusseldorf, Germany, while the company plans to debut new machines next year.

Inspired by Need to Recycle PET Waste

Motivated by the global trend for more ecological solutions, Jenn Chong Plastics Machinery Works Co., Ltd. is enthusiastic about its development of new extruders to effectively process PET waste.

Founded in 1989 in Chiayi County, central Taiwan, Jenn Chong employs 30-plus workers in its plant of around 3,500 square meters to produce a wide range of extrusion machines to extrude PP (polypropylene), PE, nylon and PET products, including blown film extrusion system for single or multi-layer film, monofilament extrusion lines, flat yarn making machine, fibrillated yarn making machine, strapping bands extrusion lines, extruded net making machine, and plastic extruding machinery.

Having become ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and CE approved for years, Jenn Chong has no doubt of its effective quality management, which is conscientiously enforced and helps to enhance product quality. James Huang, company sales manager, says in this very competitive industry of plastic machinery, the only way of success is to supply better quality and higher capacity of machines to satisfy and fulfill customer's requirement and expectation. By following rigid quality control measures with high level of standards, they ensure the quality of their products.

Their goal is to establish "Jenn Chong" as an international brand name, not only to be recognized as Taiwan machinery. In recent years and in many exhibitions, Jenn Chong has received great recognitions for their quality and design of machines. Jenn Chong's success is a result of their constant pursue of better machines. During its years of business dealings, Jenn Chong by working closely with their customer keeps improving their design of machine to make better and more user-friendly machines.

For instance, they offer an operation panel separate from the main control cabinet and ideally located near the machine where the operator can easily access and operate the machine. The company offers and incorporates the finest PLC Touch Screen Controllers to achieve Human Machine interfaces. In the K-2007 Dusseldorf exhibition, Jenn Chong exhibited a Nylon Co-Extrusion Monofilament Extrusion Pilot/Lab Line with PLC Touch Screen Human Machine Interface Control System. They had received great praises and responses in the exhibition.

Eco-based Innovation

Plastic waste is always a big Eco environmental issue. In facing worldwide over abundance of PET bottle waste, the industry has growing urgency to recycle the PET wastes effectively. The company has developed machines that can most effectively process 100% waste PET flakes into other useful products. Jenn Chong has developed their PET Monofilament and PET Strapping Band Extrusion Lines for processing 100% PET flakes.

Jenn Chang has PET Strapping Band Extrusion Lines for making 1 to 8 lines of straps with extrusion capacity from 75 to 350 kg/hr. PET strap is now widely use for heavy duty strapping application and replacing the traditional steel strapping band.

They also have PET Monofilament Extrusion Lines for making monofilament bristle for brush and broom application.

Export accounting for 95% of sales and with 20% yearly sales growth, Jenn Chong's production is fully booked since last year. The company is planning for an expansion to double their production and office area in the near future. With their extensive experience and innovation for extrusion technology, the industry will be seeing more of Jenn Chong's transition to become a bigger player in the market.

Veteran Maker Taps Green Potential

Another supplier in Taiwan who is leveraging the business opportunities generated by the increasing sensitivity for green solutions is King Shuen Machinery Co., Ltd. After considerable attention paid to developing plastic-processing machinery compatible with green material, the company, founded in 2003 in Chiayi County, successfully developed in 2002 an extruder that turns out PLA (polylactic acid) plate, making the supplier the first of its kind in Taiwan.

King Shuen, in fact, has been specializing in developing and manufacturing plastic extruding machines for 25 years, so it is regarded as one of the most experienced in the line on the island. Currently, the company offers a variety of plastic-processing machinery, including ones that extrude sheets, mold foam sheets, pelletize recycled expanded polystyrene, laminate plastic, and extrude PP and PET boards.

In addition to being committed to eco-sensitive plastic-processing machinery, Vincent Kao, chairman of King Shuen, is also keenly aware of the importance of effective marketing, quality-conscious production and personalized service as key to successful business, so the veteran businessman says that the longtime pursuit of such corporate practices has borne fruit: his company has had considerable success in marketing globally-with some 70% of its total output being shipped abroad to countries such as China, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, South Africa, Turkey, Saudi Arab, Brazil, Iran and Romania, and 30% distributed at home.

The most notable achievement for King Shuen, however, may be its success in developing a machine that is fully green: It managed to build a machine that extrudes PLA plastic boards, which is 100% biodegradable and has become the hottest eco-friendly replacement for plastic packaging in the food-processing sector worldwide. This PLA board extruder was launched in 2002 and drew intense interest from various companies in Taiwan.

Trial Order Fuels Further Improvement

After the introduction of the PLA board extruder, "A large listed company in Taiwan placed a trial order with King Shuen, which motivated us to pull out all stops to engage independently in R&D, as well as upgrade our know-how," Kao says proudly. "Eventually our machine effectively turned out PLA boards of even better quality than the sample sent us by a client." Such achievement obviously not only speaks loads of the company's dedication to engineering improvement but also, more importantly, of its conscientious attitude.

Kao adds that the PLA extruder has achieved a near-90% penetration rate globally, which may reflect the machine's practicality as well as profit potential, with many Japanese and Korean makers having already set foot in the field. Undaunted by such newcomers, Kao is confident of his capacity to take on and keep at bay any rivals because King Shuen is especially adept at mechanical fine-tuning, specifically designing into its product desirable power-saving features, as well as fully focusing on R&D.

Without resting on its laurels, the company has already launched another model: a XPS board-making machine, while it will be on hand at the Taipei Int'l Plastic & Rubber Industry Show, running from Sept. 18 to 22, 2008, to exhibit its range of plastic-processing machinery.