Value-added R&D Alliance Poised to Upgrade Taiwan's PTW Line

Taipei, June 27, 2008 (CENS)--Aided by local Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC) and Plastics Industry Development Center (PIDC), a group of makers of assembled powered two-wheelers (PTWs) and parts in southern Taiwan recently signed an agreement to form the "Motorcycle Parts Industry Value-added R&D Alliance."

The alliance is designed to jointly develop energy-saving, high fuel-efficiency and pollution-free key parts for PTWs. In addition, member makers in the R&D alliance will also try to develop more high value-added products to facilitate the upgrading of the industry.

Through the joint efforts by the alliance, the unit price of locally produced PTWs is expected to climb by 5%, and the annual production value of Taiwan's PTW-parts industry is expected to grow to outstrip NT$44 billion (US$1.44 billion at US$1: NT$30.5) in 2012.

Members in the R&D alliance include Grand Pacific Petrochemical Corp. (plastic material supplier and plastic-inject manufacturer), Tong Yah Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. (PTW electronic gauges), Gloria Material Technology Corp. (manufacture of special alloy materials), Nanopolymer Composites Corp. (plastic fuel tank), and Yamaha Motor Taiwan Co. (assembled PTWs).

MIRDC and PIDC said that Yamaha Taiwan is expected to introduce related R&D achievements into its PTWs for test, production and commercialization. The two centers would provide material-property test and analysis, reliability test and inspection, precision plastic-injection process instruction, mold/die development services to members.

According to MIRDC, the production value of the assembled PTWs in Taiwan outstripped NT$44 billion (US$1.44 billion) and that of PTW parts over NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion). The center stressed that over 40% of the parts production value was generated by companies in southern Taiwan.

Facing fierce price-cutting competition from rivals in mainland China and other low-cost nations in Southeast Asia, MIRDC said, most local PTW and parts makers are suffering increasingly thin margins and forced to upgrade their operations to survive. In the future, energy-saving, environment-friendly, and big engine-displacement products with higher added values should be the targets of local players, according to the MIRDC.

The metal center admitted, however, that many local PTW-parts processing makers have yet to build their ability to handle CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) analysis and solution, leading to higher difficulty in generating added values for their products.

To effectively solve such problem, MIRDC suggested integrating available resources on the island to help local makers upgrade their products into high unit-price big-displacement models and parts for such vehicles.