Tiger Steel Co., a veteran supplier of vehicle suspension springs, is using its strong product development capabilities and top-end manufacturing techniques to diversify into new fields, including the production of performance-tuning and racing parts as well as special springs for tracked vehicles and military trucks.

The company is an original equipment (OE) supplier of leaf springs, coil springs, stabilizers, and torsion bars for most carmakers in Taiwan. Tiger Steel claims to be the only local manufacturer—and one of the few companies in the world—that simultaneously supplies all four kinds of the suspension products, underscoring the firm's strong technical capability and R&D strength.
Tiger Steel is also the only auto suspension spring maker in Taiwan, and one of the few around the world, to have won all four of the key certifications for the industry: ISO-9001, ISO/TS-16949, ISO-14001, and Ford Q1.

"Quality is one of the key factors in our success, " comments Y.L. Chang, who is Tiger Steel' s chairman and also the honorary chairman of the Taiwan Spring Industry Association (TSIA). "Quality is a comprehensive effort that requires the integration of quality-control tasks and their concepts; high-end equipment and good operators; and constant development of newer and better materials, products, and production techniques."

Chang says that all of the high-end coil spring models developed by his company are specifically designed, tested to assure the best dampening performance, and made of extremely hard materials. He notes that it is the springs that do the real work as far as a vehicle' s ability to absorb bumps, while shock absorbers serve only as buffering devices.

Tiger Steel has also developed high-end coil springs for both the racing and performance-tuning markets. These products have quickly found an enthusiastic welcome in industrially advanced areas such as the U.S., Japan, and Europe.

The firm's professional coil spring products for the racing and performance tuning market have helped the company's business expand rapidly, and these high-end springs now account for about 30% of Tiger Steel' s total export sales. The company also supplies a wide range of standard replacement auto springs for the worldwide aftermarket.

Tiger Steel's exports have continued to rise as more and more of the domestic automakers sourcing OE parts from the firm receive commissions from their foreign technical partners to design car models that cater to mainstream tastes in the Asian market. By working with the carmakers, the company co-develops suspension springs that meet the requirements of modified cars that have increased weight, lengthened chasses, and increased or decreased ground clearance.

Tiger Steel's strong R&D capability has also contributed greatly to the company's success, helping it to diversify into challenging fields such as manufacturing railroad track fastening clips and leaf springs for train cars, suspension systems for light-rail rolling stock (in cooperation with Taiwan' s Industrial Technology Research Institute), springs for trucks used by Taiwan' s military trucks, and springs for elevators.

One example of Tiger Steel's successful diversification is the company's railroad clips, which have totally replaced imported counterparts previously supplied by a U.K. company. Tiger' s clips can parallel or are superior to their U.K.-made counterparts in quality and durability, but sell for much lower prices.

Tiger Steel is a core member of the Tiger Group, one of Taiwan's leading auto-related industrial conglomerates. Other affiliates include the Hwa Fong Rubber Industry Co., a major maker of auto/motorcycle tires; and Tiger Trading Co., a leading importer and exporter of auto parts, lubricant products, batteries, and lighting sources.