Machinery maker Hiwin Technologies Corp (上銀) and Siemens AG yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding, vowing to create a “smart” machinery industry.
Hiwin and Siemens are to work together to integrate machine tools and “smart” controllers in a bid to enhance the value chain of Taichung’s machine tool industry.
“Hiwin hopes to expand cooperation with Siemens further, especially on five-axis machines,” Hiwin chairman Eric Chuo (卓永財) told a news conference in Taichung.
Hiwin’s subsidiary, Luren Precision Co (陸聯精密), has developed a five-axis bevel gears machine combined with Siemens’ controllers, which would give Hiwin access to the high-end machine tools market, Chuo said.
Besides developing more innovative products, the two companies agreed to introduce high-end products to downstream customers in the construction of “smart” factories.
“By partnering with Hiwin, Siemens is moving to bolster the industry’s efficiency and competitiveness,” Siemens Taiwan president Erdal Elver told reporters.
Hiwin’s robotic arms products are to be equipped with Siemens’ control systems and industrial computers, improving efficiency, Siemens said.
“Smart” manufacturing can reduce time costs by 30 percent and the possibility of collision by 90 percent respectively, Siemens data showed.
At the signing ceremony, Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) revealed the city’s plans to improve competitiveness in the sector.
The city government has commissioned the Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院) to establish a “smart” machinery demonstration site and pilot production lines at Taichung Gateway Park (水湳經貿園區).
The demo site would help precision machinery and aerospace companies in Taichung to move toward Industrie 4.0, the city government said.
The city government is also planning to invest about NT$4.7 billion (US$147.2 million) in a new exhibition center for the machinery industry.
“We also hope to acquire about 300 hectares of land for ‘smart’ machinery,” Lin said, without elaborating.
The Executive Yuan has vowed to make Taichung the global capital of “smart” machinery.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS