Despite their modest size and seeming unglamorous roles, fasteners have been important contributors to Taiwan's export-dependent economy over the past decades. Currently around 600- 800 fastener makers and subcontractors, such as forging, machining, heat treating and surface finishing companies etc., are clustered in the big Gangshan area in Kaohsiung County, southern Taiwan, together achievi...

Any savvy supplier related to the building trade, especially building materials and fixtures for kitchens and baths, would not have passed up the 14th International Building & Construction Trade Fair, held alongside the Kitchen & Bath China, from May 25 to 28, 2009 at the SNIEC (Shanghai New International Expo Centre). After all, China is commonly agreed to be the world's biggest consumer market,...

To help Taiwan-based makers of metallic products of all kinds to achieve high added-value in their products, the MIRDC (Metal Industries Research and Development Centre), a Taiwan-based government-funded research institute, has been working on development of high-end clad metals and applications with aesthetic-value. Since early 2008, an R&D team led by C.C. Huang, deputy director of the Meta...

Boasting 44-plus-years in history, the Japan DIY Homecenter Show (JHS), held by the Japan DIY Industry Association, is the most specialized trade fair for DIY tools and related products in Asia, hence a key event for foreign buyers and suppliers targeting to tap the rapidly growing DIY segment in Japan, the largest Asian economy. Held the 44th time from August 28 through 30, 2008, the JHS was ...

The 2008 Moscow International Tool Expo (MITEX), the most important event of the year for DIY tools, building materials and related industries in the country, as well as one of the most influential in Europe, is the only trade fair in Russia officially recognized by AUMA and German Ministry of Economics and Technology, and supported by the Association of German Tool Manufacturer, for its professi...

The Changhua Water Ware Industry Development Association was inaugurated on Sept. 27, 2008, uniting over 150 upstream and downstream companies located in Changhua County, central Taiwan, in a joint effort to assure the sustainable development of their industry. The formation of the new association was triggered by the achievements of the Water Ware Project, a development effort led by the Mechani...

Over the past half century, over 80% of Taiwan-based faucet and sanitary ware makers have been clustered in Lugang Town, in central county of Changhua, making the small community likely ground zero in the sector. The "cluster effect" typically refers to buyers and sellers in a certain industry congregating in a certain place, like Hollywood for the American filmmaking industry, and hence indu...

Over the past decades similar stories have been told in various export-reliant sectors in Taiwan-the ultimate achievement for many local suppliers of industrial machines and tools is to catch up with their German and Japanese doyens in terms of quality and reputation so as to break their domination of global markets. The sympathetic part is that the ending to such stories tends to be repetitive, ...

To help Taiwan-based makers of metallic products of all kinds to achieve high added-value in their products, the MIRDC (Metal Industries Research and Development Centre), a Taiwan-based government-funded research institute, has been working on development of high-end clad metals and applications with aesthetic-value. Since early 2008, an R&D team led by C.C. Huang, deputy director of the Me...

The Taiwan Hardware Show (THS), held annually in Taipei, is a major trade platform for souring hand tools, fasteners and garden tools for global buyers, and is seen as the most influential trade fair of its kind in the Asia-Pacific, as the show effectively offers wide-ranging goods to foreign buyers at one location. The most recent and the 8th THS, organized by Kaigo Co., Ltd., was held Oct. 2...