The Plumbing Association of Taiwan (PAT) was founded in 2008, with help from the government and a membership consisting of faucet and fitting makers and related subcontractors, for the purpose of upgrading this traditional manufacturing industry. The association recently installed its second chairman, Wu Yih-dar, who hopes to lead the group into a new phase of development. In an interview with...

Taiwan’s manufacturers are now turning out a more diversified range of green building materials, thanks partly to new regulations that raise the ratio of eco materials for new buildings on the island from 30% to 45% for indoor materials and from zero to10% for outdoor materials, effective in 2012. In addition to products made with recycled materials, non-toxic substances, and energy-saving te...

Founded in 2009 as Taiwan’s first association of lock makers and locksmiths, the Lock Association of Taiwan (LAT) is led by chairman Ho I-hui, also president of Real Locks & Securities Co., Ltd. founded in 1972 and known as supplier of locksets under own brand Real, who, for his second 3-year tenure, is ready to improve development of the industry and market on the island. Taiwan’s lock indust...

Mostly clustered in Taiwan’s central counties of Taichung and Changhua, Taiwanese furniture parts makers saw their heyday as the island’s export-driven economy took off in the 1960s, with the prosperity being relatively fleeting as labor, land costs rose on the island, coupled with rivalry from emerging nations as China and SE Asia, to force many downstream suppliers to seek greener pasture offsh...

Since its inception in 1977, D Well Group has been devoted to making and promoting boutique doors and windows featuring a variety of exterior designs, colors and specifications as one of best-known suppliers of this kind in Taiwan. The company’s product lines include Lucky series entry doors that are wood-veneered and made of stainless steel, soundproof and burglarproof windows, bay windows an...

Taiwan's furniture industry may be shrinking in terms of production and number of companies, but local parts suppliers are honing their advantages to stay competitive in the increasingly challenging global market today. Chieh Ling One such company is Chieh Ling Screws Enterprise Co., Ltd., a veteran maker of fasteners and hardware accessories with more than 30 years of experience in the origi...

In the early days of Taiwan’s furniture industry, when the island was still an agricultural society, manufacturers focused mainly on religious offertory tables that they made of fine materials with meticulous care. When they moved on to other products they maintained their high standards, and this helped Taiwan develop into a major supplier of furniture to the global market. When the island’s ...

Chiayi in southwestern Taiwan, dubbed “City of Wood” and erstwhile timber distribution center on the island, once saw a thriving woodworking industry in the city during the Japanese occupation in the first half of the last century. Japanese rulers adored the native Taiwanese cypress species meihili and hinoki, and felled ravenously such trees on Alishan (Mount Ali) in Chiayi to repatriate t...

Taiwan’s furniture parts industry started from the 1940s by using wooden materials and mostly manual production, which gradually transformed to automation and volume production as Taiwan slowly industrialized during 1960-1980, also the golden era of Taiwan’s furniture parts industry. As the furniture making sector, the parts makers also migrated offshore starting about 20 years ago as costs r...

Taiwan’s furniture industry has been shrinking for decades as producers have migrated to mainland China and Vietnam in search of more favorable manufacturing conditions. Some, however, have remained in Taiwan to produce office furniture, design-oriented and customized metal furniture, and other types of furniture that require greater technological input, multiple functions, and ergonomic design. ...