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Industry Activities
Sunco Visits Fastener World- Roadmap for Interchange Between Taiwan and Japan Fastener Industry
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2023-07-18
For more than 30 years, Fastener World has been devoted to bridging the fastener industry between Taiwan and the rest of the world. Our motive and mission statement is to bring Taiwan fasteners to the world stage where they shine. Going through our history records, we have had the honor of Bossard Group’s senior vice president of purchasing visiting us. We visited Brighton-Best International (BBI) which is the largest fastener distributor in the U.S., Bosch’s plant in Germany, as well as Sacma which is a major fastener machine manufacturer in Italy, and Böllhoff Group, as well as many well-known fastener companies in China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand. We traveled to Europe to participate in the social event with EFDA (European Fastener Distributor Association).
Over the years we have reached out to Japanese fastener associations and manufacturers to provide Taiwan with a glimpse of Japan’s fastener development through interviews. We introduce Taiwanese fastener products to Japanese purchasers at manufacturing shows held in many places across Japan. Over time, many Japanese fastener owners of large, medium and small sizes learn more about Taiwan as the fastener kingdom. When asked why they come to Taiwan every year to look for supply partners, most Japanese business owners said they prefer Taiwan fasteners for the quality close to the requirements of Japan. They think Taiwanese business owners keep their word and offer acceptable prices.
Among these Japanese companies, Sunco Industries which is one of the largest fastener distributors in Western Japan considers Taiwan fastener manufacturers to be very important partners and comes to Taiwan every year to strengthen partnership and find new partners. From many of our past interviews with Sunco Industries, our readers have learned that Sunco Industries is crossing the border of Japan to the international market with the launch of its new English website. For many years Fastener World has been a critical medium that helps Sunco Industries make their name known to the world, along with their fastener partners in Taiwan as an integral part of their turning point to go international.
Against this backdrop, Sunco Industries’ President Mr. Yoshihide Okuyama led Purchasing Manager Ms. Miki Hiraoka, and Mr. Tomokazu Takada, Assistant Manager of International Trade Division, to pay a visit to President William Liao of Fastener World and his staff. Mr. Takada said the request for a visit is to get a thorough knowledge of the characteristics and structure of fastener heartlands in northern, central and southern Taiwan, to learn the status quo and hear the voice of fastener manufacturers in Taiwan, and to convey Sunco Industries' needs through Fastener World. Secondly, President Okuyama hopes for Fastener World to connect Taiwan, Japan and global fastener partners and create new business opportunities.
As a trusted medium for industry players, we arranged for Sunco Industries to visit Mr. Tu-Chin Tsai who is the chairman of Taiwan Industrial Fasteners Institute (TIFI) and Josh Chen who is the chairman of Taiwan Fastener Trading Association (TFTA). In addition, we welcomed Sunco Industries to Fastener World’s location for a briefing where President Liao gave a detailed account of Taiwan fastener history as well as the potential for collaboration between Taiwan and Japan.
Sunco Industries Meets Chairman Tu-Chin Tsai, with Further Understanding of Taiwan's Industry Structure
President Okuyama asked Chairman Tsai about the structure of Taiwan fastener industry. The chairman explained that up to 80% of fastener manufacturers in Taiwan are located within the radius of Luzhu District in Kaohsiung City, which is enough to provide one-stop purchase for overseas buyers. The chairman emphasized that Taiwanese companies are highly committed to commercial credibility and their technical capabilities are already comparable to those of European and American companies. Taiwanese companies are qualified to provide strong support for Sunco Industries and other Japanese companies in their expansion to the global market. President Okuyama said the appeal of Taiwan to Japan is the resilience and wholeness of fastener supply chain. Therefore, he is looking forward to Sunco Industries’ further collaboration with Taiwan's supply chain, and utilizing Sunco Industries’ distribution routes, as well as achieving shared benefits and mutual growth.
Sunco Industries Meets Chairman Josh Chen,
Expanding Partnership Network
TFTA has the upper hand in accessing fastener distribution in Taiwan. In his term of office, Chen seeks to unlock nodes to overseas distribution routes for Taiwan, and as such he understands why Sunco Industries’ needs to expand distribution collaboration between Taiwan and Japan. President Okuyama said lacking the knowledge of Taiwan’s trade and distribution will often bring obstacles against purchase and supply between Taiwan and Japan. To that, Chen explained the structure and demand of Taiwan fastener trade, emphasizing that Taiwan fastener traders have long been spreading risks in Southeast Asia and many places in the world. They have successfully weathered various economic crises in the past half century; therefore, Japanese business owners can rest assured for stable product supply. Additionally, President Okuyama said there is much room for growth in the proportion of fasteners that Japan purchases from Taiwan, and therefore he expects to expand fastener trade collaboration with Taiwan.
Sunco Industries Visits Fastener World,
Picturing the Macro Trends of Fastener Industry &
Expanding Partnership Network
Fastener World has an edge in obtaining market intelligence and analyzing data. President Liao and President Okuyama touched on the challenges, opportunities and the upcoming big trends in Taiwan fastener industry. President Okuyama stated that Japan is tracking issues regarding the EU carbon tax, and he is interested to know if Taiwan manufacturers have taken steps to react to it. President Liao said both Chairmen Tsai and Chen are guiding the fastener companies in Taiwan to reduce carbon emissions, and they are also in close discussion with the government and Bureau of Foreign Trade. In fact, there are some Taiwanese business owners who have provided valuable advice in carbon reduction technology for the government and the industry. Net-zero is the most important transformation challenge now and Taiwan will continue to make breakthroughs at the new turning point.
President Okuyama was also concerned about China's first investigation into Taiwan's trade barriers and wanted to know the views of Taiwanese manufacturers. President Liao explained that most of the manufacturers are cautiously optimistic, and although it is likely that China’s wire rods could enter Taiwanese market in the future and create partial impact, this can be turned into a favorable opportunity for Taiwan (see the editorial in May 2023 Issue of Fastener World magazine), without affecting the quality of supply to Japanese manufacturers, while enabling Taiwan to reduce manufacturing costs.
President Okuyama said Fastener World is welcome to bring a delegation of Taiwanese fastener companies to the headquarters of Sunco Industries. He will also make arrangements to assist the delegation in visiting local Japanese companies.
Before leaving Fastener World, President Okuyama, Ms. Hiraoka and Mr. Takada took a group photo with our staff members. President Okuyama shook the hands of each of our members and expressed his gratitude.
Lastly, Sunco and several Fastener World representatives went to the welcome dinner party for Kaohsiung fastener show exhibitors. During the event, President Liao introduced President Okuyama to the past chairmen of TFTA, as well as the presidents of fastener associations from the U.S., Europe and Brazil who were present, closing this trip for stronger Taiwan-Japan ties with a perfect ending.
Sunco Industries
Fastener World Inc.
TFTA Chairman Josh Chen
TIFI Chairman Tu-Chin Tsai
Taiwan
Japan
fastener industry
exchange
扣件產業
惠達雜誌
台灣螺絲貿易協會陳和成理事長
台灣螺絲工業同業公會蔡圖晉理事長
台灣
日本
產業交流
Industry Activities
2023-07-18
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