Chuang Hsiang's Product Innovation: Better than Original Equipment

The Chuang Hsiang Technology Co. was established in 1990 and today is a leading ISO9001-certified specialist in the design, development, and manufacturing of stylish state-of-the-art LED side-mirror covers.

Chuang Hsiang was the first company in Taiwan to develop LED mirror covers which can serve as stylish, eye-catching direct replacements for the original covers. These innovative products feature LED signal lights and even foot lamps that illuminate the ground when the car door is opened.

New functions and attractive styling make up only part of the appeal of Chuang Hsiang's products. The firm's general manager, Jeff Lin, says that his mission is to provide only high-quality, top-notch products to buyers around the world; all of his products, therefore, have passed stringent weather-resistance tests and been certified to E-mark, ECE, EEC, SAE, and CCC standards.

Another of the company's selling points is the comprehensive range of its products. An in-house tooling department helps with the constant development and introduction of newer and better products. The firm's catalogue is filled with more than 100 models of mirror covers, most of them developed for specific car models so as to achieve the best match.

Current development efforts are focused mainly on models for popular Japanese and Korean cars, but orders for mirror covers for certain European and American cars are welcome as well.

Innovation and Invention

General manager Lin notes that LED side mirrors are rapidly gaining in popularity as more and more carmakers try to match the market trend that was initiated by Mercedes-Benz luxury cars more than a decade ago. The growing tendency of automakers to use LED mirror covers as standard equipment naturally compresses the space that suppliers like Chuang Hsiang have to survive.

"However," Lin stresses, "our products are even more stylish and have more functions than the original-equipment covers. We're targeting the high-level upgrade sector in industrially advanced areas such as Japan and Central and Western Europe. We're also trying to focus on innovation that can assure our market share and, we are confident, please our customers worldwide with new and convenient functions."

One example of such a function is an internal mechanism that can convert a side mirror's folding control from manual to electric action. To get an automatically folding mirror, all you have to do is install the mechanism, consisting of a motor and gears, in your original mirror.

Another example of Chuang Hsiang's innovation is a new daytime running light specifically developed to be integrated with the styling of a car's front bumper, adding far more visual integrity and sophisticated feel than the usual general running lights can offer.

"I have full confidence that our group of talented experts, each having more than 20 years of experience and know-how in automotive mirrors, can play the role of innovator or inventor in our operations," Lin comments. "I'm also confident that few newcomers will be able to catch up with us in the high end of the market because of the high threshold of innovation capability, precision, and styling design required. Very few companies can match our attention to detail; for example, we don't care just about the shape, location, and integrity of an LED light, but also its light patterns. This is the way we can achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction."

In many cases, Lin contends, Chuang Hsiang creates market trends or even sets new esthetic/functional standards. As one result of this, he reports, "Now, customers in Japan won't buy an upgrade side-mirror cover unless it has an LED foot lamp."

Another part of the company's core competitiveness is its strong manufacturing capability; it now operates two plants in Taiwan, one in Taipei and another in Taichung, with a total employment of over 100. All processes, from development and tooling to plastic injection, coating and finishing, assembly, and packaging, are carried out in-house to assure the highest quality.

Lin is confident that Chuang Hsiang will continue growing and advancing rapidly on the strength of its state-of-the-art product design, innovation, manufacturing capability, and outstanding customer services.