In 2020, the pandemic issue caused by COVID19 quenched the growing trend of the international economy, but due to the development of electric car, the demands for plastics forming products were surging high. The executive director of TAMI, who is also president of Forwell Group, Mr. Hsiao, said that with the vaccinations take place across many nations, now some national gates are opened. Together with the opening of many countries, many markets in the global platform will getting better and have positive performance. The booming of car industry will also benefit plastics forming markers. In the year 2021, it is expected to be a year of strong rising.

President Hsiao said that now the metal working market in Taiwan’s domestic performance is getting better but the export is not as good as the domestic market. It is worrisome that since the vaccine is not enough so if we want 60% to 70% of the population to be injected with vaccines, it is anticipated that this goal may be achieved only after June 2022. The opening of international markets will thus be postponed so the economy recovery will be delayed. These factors may lead to not ideal results of the market and the weakened competitiveness.

President Hsiao of Forwell stated that, as the automotive market in China is growing, manufacturers there pursue for more value-added products in order to enhance their competitiveness. With reasonable cost cut, these suppliers are able to offer products that match the market trend. Nowadays some metal parts of cars are replaced by dual-color injection plastics parts, because the later are good at strength, hardness, appearance, and color conditions, with of course better price and weight nature. Therefore, those applications are accepted in some inner parts such as the dashboards. The application is also in the 3C sector.

Hsiao further pointed that, due to the advancement of the FRP technology, fiber reinforced plastics, the application of this material in dual and multiple colors are wider and this leads to the replacement of the existing materials in many fields. The FRP is with lower cost, easier forming nature, and lighter weight, and together with the advanced vacuum plating technology, the FRP is competitive in appearance, colorfulness, and recyclability. The FRP will be widely applied in automotive parts, 3C components, and many other sectors.

President Hsiao said that, regarding Mainland China, among the many industrial nations, has introduced the idea of Industry 4.0 and offers a variety of smart manufacturing solutions due to the profound development of domestic automotive industry and the incubation of modern internet technology. Hsiao further shared that automotive manufacturers using injection molding to produce their products encounter orders with low quantity but high variety, so that the utilization of molds and dies is very frequent. Only by mold/ die management can they become productive. Moreover, Forwell Group will keep its pace in the development of smart mold and die management system for plant planning.