TWMA’s new Chairman Mr. Michael Chang shares his activities
At the end of a year rich in achievements, the actors of Taiwanese woodworking industry met again at the annual TWMA (Taiwan Woodworking Machinery Association) members' meeting with the aim to select their new representatives for the next three years.
Hence, on November 20th, 2015, TWMA proudly announced the election of their new chairman, Mr. Michael Chang, CEO of Leadermac Machinery Co., Ltd.. The decision was made in accordance with the wishes of the board of directors, followed by the new vice-chairmen, Mr. Titan Chang, General Manager of Excellent Machinery Industrial Co., Ltd. and Mr. James Lin, General Manager of Jun Shiau Machinery Co., Ltd..
In order to know a bit more about Mr. Chang's perceptions of its new responsibilities, we had the pleasure to interview him at his office and we asked him the following questions:
First of all, congratulations for becoming the new TWMA chairman. How do you feel after the event last week?
Following the results of the election, our humble committee members have placed their trust in me for representing the Taiwan Woodworking Machinery Association. It is a challenging opportunity, especially in the current Asian recession. New ideas, concepts and also energy are needed for supporting and reinforcing our industry.
You are going to represent TWMA until 2018. What vision do you have in mind to support the industry during these years?
After years of experience as one of the TWMA directors, there is still room for improvement on the following four sections, which encompass the key factors of the association.
The first section is about Exhibitions. An extensive communication channel should be created with other major associations with the perspective of preparing the Wood Taiwan 2018.
The second section is related with Public Relations. TWMA will invite its members to join dedicated trips for creating quality and trustful relationships. This moment will also facilitate communication among members of the association for sharing industry insights or any unsolved issues.
The third section is more towards Research and Development. In Taiwan, manufacturers, government and universities are sharing some common interests in the field and they should intensify their cooperation for optimizing the use of allocated budget. The coming new challenges from industry 4.0 are definitely a way to implement it on real cases in a near future.
The last section is called General Affairs. TWMA must insist on maintaining the health of its members. Bicycle activities are popular in Taiwan and it might be a great way to unify members around one goal. We have also to support community with donation programs for people with disabilities. Finally, the members of our association have rights and duties that can be adapted accordingly. Thus, members are free to advise for any possible modifications.
After Wood Taiwan 2015, manufacturers understood the importance of innovation to keep expanding on the global market. How are you going to encourage them and strengthen internal developments?
Innovation is the key to maintain our industry's advantages. However, it seems inherent with the development of quality management systems as ISO-9001. This kind of standards establishes the base for further internal improvements and TWMA will be ready to support members with specific courses in order to fulfill the criteria from auditors. By following this concept, manufacturers will feel much clearer on all the aspects of their company from procurement to sales department.
We saw the recent W-Team lines for more sophisticated solutions. Is there any other project in the pipeline for answering the growing demand from 4.0 industry?
W-Team is an on-going project that will remain active on the same principles as before with additional marketing support to improve the access of information for end-users.
The 4.0 industry is different from W-Team since it is more oriented towards the manufacturing side. The objective relies on using the large amount of information available (Big Data) to faster the working process. It also lets customers the chance to quickly check the status of anything related to their orders based on RFID or barcode tracking systems. By adapting our facilities to 4.0 industry, we can shorter the lead time for end-users and then increase their level of satisfaction.
Taiwan represents the fourth biggest nation of woodworking machine exporters behind Germany, Italy and China. What is your plan and timeline for improving cooperation between TWMA and other woodworking machinery associations?
TWMA must maintain close relationships with major players of woodworking machinery associations. It would be interesting to discuss and share point of views on international topics such as economic trends or trade fairs, where common interests may prevail. TWMA would be also pleased to organize an international meeting involving other associations. By bringing together all relevant stakeholders such as VDMA for Germany, ACIMALL for Italy, JWMA for Japan and CNFMA for China, TWMA is hoping new outcomes for the woodworking industry.
Source from Interwood.tw
http://www.interwood.tw/industryNewsContent.php?ID=984&ln=eng
