The
Taiwan-Germany Smart Machinery Promotion Forum was first held in Taipei during
the Computex trade-show in May 2016, followed by the 2nd Forum at the
EMO Hannover International Exhibition in Germany 2017.
This
year, the forum took place during the Taiwan International Machine Tool Show
(TMTS) and was organized by the Taiwanese Smart Machinery Promotion Office and
the German Trade Office Taipei. Co-organizers were the Taiwan Machinery
Industry Association (TAMI), Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association
(TMBA) and the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association
(TAIROA).Furthermore, the German Institute Taipei, the Taiwanese Industrial
Development Bureau and the Taichung City Government acted as advisory units.
The
forum was opened by Dr. Ming-Hsin Kung, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of
Economic Affairs, Mr. Thomas Prinz, Director General of the German Institute
Taipei, Mr. Guang-Yao Zhang, Deputy Mayor of Taichung City as well as Mr. Axel
Limberg, Executive Director of the German Trade Office Taipei.
The
focus of the forum laid on cooperation opportunities between Taiwanese and
German companies in the field of Smart Machinery and Industry 4.0. Renowned
experts from German and Taiwanese companies, such as Trumpf Co., Ltd, Siemens
Ltd., Taiwan, Advantec, Bosch Taiwan and Toptek Automation Co., Ltd., shared their experience on the current state
of cooperation between both sides and the growing implementation of industry
4.0. Examples of New IIoT Platforms in Tech Ecosystems, of new business models
in 4.0 industry and of cooperation cases between Taiwan and Germany were
presented and provided an excellent basis to discuss the future of Smart
Machinery.
“Since
Industry 4.0 and the ongoing digital transformation will further increase the
demand for high quality machines and machine tools, German companies can
provide products with an unmatched durability, making them the perfect match
for the needs of Taiwanese companies in the times of digitalization.”, Axel Limberg,
Chief Representative and Executive Director of the German Trade Office said
during the Forum. Further, he emphasized Taiwan’s highly considered skills in
electronic and IT sectors: “Taiwan, as a major powerhouse in the electronics
and IT industry, can provide high tech products from these sectors to combine
them with German machine engineering. Therefore, when working closely together
and joining their forces, German and Taiwanese companies can not only create
top-notch Industry 4.0 solutions to meet the current demands, but also take an
active part in the development of the future of smart manufacturing.” Furthermore,
Mr. Limberg also announced that the 4th Taiwan-Germany Smart Machinery
Forum is going to be held in Germany next year.
The
event closed with a panel discussion and a gala dinner in the evening.
Consequently, the forum gave the participating companies an important B2B
matchmaking platform to further develop business opportunities on international
markets.
Future development of Industry 4.0 in Taiwan
and Germany
Taiwan
and Germany are both highly innovative, export-driven economies with many world
market leaders, perfectly complementing each other to offer world class
Industry 4.0 solutions. Taiwan currently aims to provide a new ecosystem for
the smart machinery industry by building on previous successes in precision
machinery, information and communications technologies. Over the course of ten
years, Taiwan shall become a global research, development and manufacturing
base for smart machinery, as well as a total solution provider for end-use
applications.
Germany
has been pursuing innovation objectives related to smart machinery since the
enrollment of the High-Tech Strategy 2020 Action Plan. Industry 4.0 represents
a major opportunity for Germany to secure its technological leadership role and
establish itself as a smart machinery lead market and provider. In Germany’s
advanced manufacturing landscape, Industry 4.0 can drive productivity gains of
5 to 8 percent on total manufacturing costs over ten years, totaling USD 107
billion to USD 180 billion.
German-Taiwanese Business Relations
Taiwan is Germany’s
fifth most important trading partner in Asia, and Germany is the most important
trading partner for Taiwan’s economy in the European Union. According to the
Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs, the bilateral trade volume between
Taiwan and Germany was USD 15.6 billion in 2017. The machinery tool industry
connects the two countries’ supply and demand, so it is a great example for
strong German-Taiwanese business relations. Taiwan imported USD 1.5 billion
worth of electrical machinery, equipment and parts thereof from Germany in 2017.
This accounts for 16.3% of all imports from Germany