Mechanical engineering has strong roots in Taiwan. Like everywhere else in the world, automation specialists, research institutes and manufacturers of machine tools and the like are also working on the smart factory here. This is not just about networking components, machines and systems, but also about connecting with new (development) partners.

This means that Taiwanese companies are looking for international partners and contacts - on the one hand to drive development, and on the other to continue growing outside Asia.

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council, or Taitra for short, is supporting them and invited journalists to get an idea of the companies on site. As you could already read in the article "Made in Taiwan - High-Tech in Mechanical Engineering", SCOPE was there. While the focus of the article in the December issue was on machine tool manufacturing, this article focuses on automation.

So read on to find out what strategy the automation specialist Delta is pursuing, how the young robot manufacturer Techman is dealing with this, how human-robot collaboration is further improving cooperation between humans and robots in industry, and what role the company Hiwin in Taiwan is playing.

Growth in many ways

Further growth is the goal of Andy Liu, Managing Director of Delta IABG. This also includes acquisitions of know-how carriers. © WBM

Our Taiwan tour kicked off with the Delta Group. The Delta Industrial Automation Business Group, or Delta IABG for short, invited us on a virtual tour of its production facilities. In its Technology Center, the company displays its production on a giant screen. With the help of the Industrial Internet of Things, it is possible to get an overview of production as a whole, but also to take a look at the status of each component in the factory. Andy Liu, Managing Director of Delta IABG, emphasizes the advantages of a digital factory: "With big data analytics, we find problems before they become problematic." He sees the future in networking.

And Liu sees something else in the future: further growth. The aim is to drive the company forward, both technologically and economically. Europe has also been identified as a growth market. In addition to organic growth, Liu is also focusing on acquisitions. However, he does not go into the details of preferred candidates. The company will also intensify its efforts in India. Production is also to be expanded there and America will be served from there.

Enabling Technology

Hiwin offers a broad product portfolio. In addition to linear axes, the Group's portfolio includes robots, medical training devices and Industry 4.0 solutions. © WBM

The name Hiwin is made up of "HI-tech WINner". This also speaks to the company's self-confidence: just four years after it was founded in 1989, the company decided to open a branch in Germany. Today, the company has around 5,400 employees worldwide and expects a turnover of 1 billion dollars for the 2018 financial year.

In Taiwan, Hiwin is omnipresent in the industry. Some machine tool manufacturers emphasize that they only use Hiwin drive technology, especially in high-end machines. The reason for this is the high quality and high positioning accuracy of the components. When asked about these statements, the Hiwin employees were pleased but modest. Only gradually did we learn that there were waiting lists for some components and that the production facilities were being expanded further to meet the high demand. A new factory with an area of 147,000 m² is being built in Chiayi.

Seeing cobot

Smart, Simple, Safe - this is the premise on which the start-up Techman builds its collaborative robots. Founded in 2012, the first prototype - the TM5 - was completed in 2015. The special feature of the collaborative robot is the vision system. In conjunction with the TM Landmark, it enables the cobot to be positioned and adjusted more precisely. This allows the robot arm to move more freely and perform distribution tasks. Thanks to visual identification, it can also perform collaborative tasks with two or more machines, making it flexible in use, for example in assembly, smartphone assembly or making coffee.

The start-up's declared aim is to find new sales and development partners by participating in international trade fairs such as the Hannover Messe in April.