Living up to Taiwan’s reputation of “Kingdom of Hand Tools,” local suppliers of auto repair tools are earning plaudits for their long-term dedication to R&D and branding upgrades. Unwilling to compromise in the face of rivalry from emerging countries and realizing the danger of market erosion caused by price competition, most Taiwanese suppliers in the line have worked to redefine their positi...

Amid an uncertain global economy, weakened by the still limping peripheral economies in the EU and relatively high unemployment, slow housing starts in the U.S., most Taiwanese bathroom fitting makers have struggled with flat growths over the past few years. While the industry is not likely to turn around for many years, many undaunted operators are using different strategies, depending on core ...

A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the explicit information connected to a company's name, products or services, and often represents implicit values, ideas and personality. Building a brand is a go-to-market strategy that, when successful, can create expectations and associations between own-branded products and consumers to achieve bigger sales gains. Branding is also widely considered...

Taiwan, an island in the southwest rim of the Pacific Ocean, usually sees Monsoon rains in late May or early June, which this year have been unusually heavy to equal downpours typically associated with a medium typhoon, hence flooding parts of Taipei and many remote communities in central Taiwan. This year’s Monsoon rains came earlier than usual, catching some residents off-guard but still sur...

Artisan Hardware Corp. is one of the leading professional makers of various ladders and related accessories in Taiwan and mainland China, with more than 30 years of experience. Sound manufacturing capability and capacity is among the company’s biggest features. With vertical production lines equipped with 29 aluminum extrusion machines, 120 plastic injection machines and 18 pultrusion mach...

The range of eco building materials available in Taiwan has risen over the past few years to include non-toxic electrical cables, parquet flooring, tiles, paints, carpets, adhesives, fillers, glass, cushion and gypsum boards. The lawmakers in Taiwan are credited with pushing for eco-correct construction on the island. In November 2011, the legislature ratified a bill to impose stringent requir...

In the near future local suppliers of fasteners hope to develop a sustainable business involving the growth of wind power and the formation of a local supply chain of large-sized wind turbines on the island. And they have to thank for this the efforts both of Taiwan and of the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC), the island's leading metal industry research institute that has p...

Tasked to carry out an industrial development project to upgrade Taiwan’s yacht hardware industry in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, the Metal Industries Research & Development Center (MIRDC) in 2010 again formed an R&D alliance in the wake of an earlier one that disbanded upon project termination in 2007. Mark Tsai, project manager of Knowledge Management Application Service Section of MIRDC...

Hand tools, both for DIY and professionals, are products whose demands are as certain as economic volatility these days. After all, how many DIYers are going to budget for more hand tools when their jobs are threatened; while professional-grade tools certainly are deprioritized for replacement when business sags and orders are merely trickling. The post-meltdown downturn in 2009 did not spare Tai...

Assured quality will help Taiwanese tiles compete against substandard Chinese products Taiwan’s tile manufacturers have a new quality verification system; beginning this year; the government-administered “MIT Smile Logo”, an image with a smiling emoticon on the middle, is issued for tiles that pass tests for radiation volume, anti-slipping, and release of lead and cadmium. The verification...