Tzung Jin Aims Be No. 1 in Battery Terminals

The Tzung Jin Co. has set a tough goal for itself: to become the world's top manufacturer in the line of auto battery terminals, cable adapters, fuse blocks, in-line fuse holders, and power-distribution blocks.

The president of the company, Frank Liang, insists that this vision is not just pie-in-the-sky but an achievable short-term goal. His confidence is bolstered by the fact that Tzung Jin has won more than 100 patents worldwide and has another 50 or so pending, thanks to what the president claims is unmatched development and manufacturing capabilities.

Giving credence to these capabilities, the company recently introduced two innovative battery terminals. One of the terminals has specially designed inner spiral grooves, greatly enhancing the terminal's clamping force on battery electrodes and eliminating the looseness caused by driving on rough roads or by long-term neglect. This new model also eliminates problems of faulty induction caused mainly by electrode oxidation, thus ensuring a smoother and more efficient electricity output.

Liang says that the innovations incorporated in the new terminal have two major objectives: to allow the terminal to be installed easily, and to provide a connector that can be secured to the battery positively so as to achieve better conductivity. The terminal, he explains, has a circular mounting hole with grooves that maintain close contact with the battery electrode.

This innovation, Liang says, solves the problem of poor conduction-a problem which other companies have not dared to tackle or on which they have spent a lot of money to solve in complicated ways. The president says that more and more racing teams in Taiwan, and other countries as well, are delighted with this new terminal which totally solves the problems previously associated with violent movement.

To serve a wide variety of markets, the new terminal can be made of various materials and surface treatments, including high-purity brass with 24K gold or satin-nickel electroplating for the top-end market, or with ordinary brass for the general market.

Extra Wires for More Devices

The second new product is a battery terminal connector, which also has inner spiral grooves and includes a metal mounting base and metal wire distribution holders extending radially from the periphery of the base. Each of the wire holders has one or more holes for the mounting of bolts to secure the wires. This multi-extendable hole terminal, Liang says, facilitates the easy installation of additional power cables for upgrade devices such as car alarms, global positioning system (GPS) receivers, and in-car liquid crystal display (LCD) devices without the need to loosen the main battery terminals.

This solution, Liang says, eliminates the need to reset electrical devices such as clocks and stereo systems after power has been cut off by the removal of a battery terminal. The terminal also provides newly added devices with a better, more stable supply of power.

The president reports that the new multi-hole terminal can be made with two to 10 additional wire distribution holders, giving it unlimited possibilities. Both of the new products, he says, have been patented in Taiwan, the United States, Japan, Germany, and France.

Tzung Jin was established in 1991 as a hardware processing company and was later transformed into a specialized auto-parts maker with, Liang claims, unmatched innovation capability and a strong determination to be "the best" in quality, function, and price.

Indeed, innovation, rather than mass production, is the firm's key competitive advantage. Liang says that he fully realizes that the small-batch, large-variety production mode is the best for Taiwanese companies. Also, he continues, local companies need to have an intellectual property base which can provide long-term support for their leading position in the market and can ensure good profit margins.

Keeping Production at Home

The company is determined to keep its production in Taiwan, and has recently completed construction of a large, modern plant on the island. This is part of an expansion program designed to make Tzung Jin into a leading manufacturer in the global auto battery terminal and power distribution products market.

There is always room for more innovation, Liang comments, noting that an ordinary disposable baby diaper incorporates more than 100 patents and that even such daily items offer space for further improvements in function and convenience.

With the new factory, the president states, his company will be able to expand from the high end into the medium end of the market. It will boost production capacity and allow more items, traditionally at the high end of the product range, to be mass produced using different materials and production methods. The factory is to begin mass production in December 2003 and boost the company's annual capacity to about two million units by the end of 2004.

The president claims that all of his products enjoy unmatched competitiveness in the market, thanks to better conduction and higher convenience coupled with prices that are no higher than lesser products.

The company has developed a comprehensive line of products over the past few years, Liang notes, including about 60 battery-terminal models, seven cable-adapter models, 14 types of fuse block, 20 types of power-distribution block, and 10 types of in-line fuse holders. This comprehensive product offering enables Tzung Jin to fill just about any customer demand, anywhere in the world.

In the future, the president says, Tzung Jin will differentiate itself from the competition by turning out only patented products. His goal is not only to become the tops in the world, he asserts, but also to challenge himself constantly.