Chairman Wang Wuxiong once refused invitations from mainland Chinese to cooperate in starting a business.

He: "After all, electrical discharge machining technology is an intellectual property created by the joint efforts of Taiwan's industry, government, academia and research institutes. It is not a technology independently developed by CHMER. If the key technology is given up, Taiwan's peers will not be competitive. ."

Text: Zhang Liangyi

The central region is the base camp of the machinery industry. There are about 20 manufacturers of electric discharge machines, most of which are located in Taichung counties and cities. The large manufacturers are concentrated in Taichung City, with a total output value of About NT$7 billion. my country's electric discharge machining machines are one of the few products that can compete with Japanese companies. The controller is developed by itself and does not need to rely on imports.

R&D established and won many awards

Among them, CHMER Electromechanical, which has won many Rock Awards, Little Giant Awards and National Quality Awards, is the leader in the industry. CHMER Electromechanical was founded in 1975 with an initial capital of only NT$200,000 and only two employees. Chairman Wang Wuxiong relied on his own electronic technology expertise to launch Taiwan's first electronics-based electronics in the year of the company's establishment. Crystal electric discharge processing machines have now developed into a situation where both turnover and product innovation are the highest in the industry. Last year's turnover was close to NT$1.3 billion, an increase of 8.8% compared with the previous year. 5%, ranking 965th among the "Top 1,000 Manufacturing Industries" compiled by Business Week in May this year, and 33rd among the "41 Little Giants on the Rise of the Manufacturing Industry". In the thirty years since its establishment, it has experienced external environmental shocks such as the oil crisis, financial crisis, and raw material price fluctuations. With its own independent research and development and PC-Based controller applications, it still enjoys a high reputation in the discharge industry, and in 19 In 1999, it became the first electrical discharge machine manufacturer in Taiwan to win both the Rock Award and the Little Giant Award.

CHMER has been the leader in the industry for a long time. The key is to invest generously in research and development, so that the company's research and development team has always exceeded 20 people, which is more than four times that of its peers! Every year, 4% of R&D funds are invested in education and training, and talents are retained through employee stock ownership and internal entrepreneurship. Chairman Wang Wuxiong does not consider personal gain and once rejected invitations from powerful people in mainland China to cooperate and start a business. "After all, electrical discharge machining technology is an intellectual property created through the joint efforts of Taiwan's industry, government, academia and research institutes. It is not a technology independently developed by CHMER. If key technologies are given away, Taiwan's peers will be uncompetitive," Chairman Wang said.

Win in high-end products, second only to Japanese companies

After the mass production of wire cutting machines in 1997, CHMER immediately occupied the market in Taiwan that was previously dominated by Japanese companies Mitsubishi and Sodick. Although the Japanese companies cut prices by 30% to counterattack, they finally lost it. Give up 90% of the market. In 2006, a wire cutting machine equipped with a new generation of PC-Based controller was launched. It features downlink network transmission under DOS architecture and the whole machine is 100% homemade. It was early equipped with a controller from Japan's FANAC < FUNAC > Not only was the cost high, but the functions were also limited. "CHMER had to do it himself, and he improved the problems when he found them. After modifications, he could gradually commercialize them. One of the main reasons for the competitiveness of Taiwan's current electrical discharge machining machines is that PC-Based The cost of the controller is low and the supply speed is fast." Wang Wuxiong said. Finally got rid of the constraints of Japanese companies on CNC controllers.

CHMER Company's revenue in 2005 was nearly NT$1.3 billion, the highest since its establishment and more than double that of 2001! The main reason is of course the booming market in mainland China. CHMER Company does not seize the market with low prices, but wins with high-end products. As a result, its wire cutting machine market share in mainland China is as high as 25%, ranking second, second only to the Japanese company Sodick's 35%. . In 2005, sales in mainland China accounted for 60% of total sales.

Qiao Mao and Jiansheng followed closely and performed well

Another representative manufacturer is Qiao Mao Electromechanical. In 2005, the output of Taiwan's Dadu Factory remained stable at around NT$230 million. The main sales regions are Europe and Asia, with 18% each. The former is mainly the United Kingdom and Russia, and the latter is mainly Thailand and Malaysia. The Kunshan factory in mainland China has grown steadily, and its output value in 2005 has reached NT$8,000. Ten thousand yuan. Mainly due to the tightening of approvals, some key components are still imported from Taiwan. In terms of market conditions in 2006, the company believes that the market conditions in India and the Middle East are optimistic, and the mainland China continues to be optimistic! Qiao Mao Company's wire cutting machine PCBase controller was developed in cooperation with the Industrial Research Institute. Although it has a good reputation, its commercialization capabilities still lag behind that of CHMER Company.

Tradition and line cutting have their own merits

Electro-discharge machine (EDM for short) is an indispensable equipment for manufacturing precision molds and is a special machine for mold processing. Traditional electric discharge machining is based on the preset shape of the processed electrode (conductive materials such as copper and graphite). The high temperature and high heat generated by the discharge vaporizes or melts the excess material to completely mold the shape.

Wire-cut machine < wire-cut > uses copper wire as the processing electrode, and also uses the discharge principle to perform two-dimensional or three-dimensional cutting and shaping according to the preset path. The technical level of wire cutting machines is higher, and the precision and speed of producing molds are faster than traditional models, but they are more expensive. There are not many manufacturers that have successfully sold commercial products. CHMER Electrical and Mechanical is the leader. Qiao Mao and Jiansheng also have commercialized models, but the sales figures are still far behind CHMER.

Source: International Trade