Taiwan’s Largest Plastic Injection Molding Machine Manufacturer 2/ FCS Stands Out in Global Competition by Virtue of Multi-component PIMMs The Lightweight Trend in Electric Vehicles Becomes Its Next Growth Driver
FCS is good at manufacturing multi-component plastic injection molding machines (PIMMs). As a major product of FCS, the multi-component PIMM makes FCS become the largest PIMM supplier for the global top six auto lighting manufacturers. FCS even successfully developed six-component PIMMs last year, and is currently among the global top 25 PIMM manufacturers. (Photo/ News Group Database)
Why can FCS (6603), Taiwan’s largest PIMM manufacturer, become the largest PIMM supplier for the global top six auto lighting manufacturers? CTWANT held an exclusive interview with Alan Wang, the second generation successor to FCS, mentioned that: “We rely on our leading strength in multi-component PIMMs. While our global competitors are stagnating around four-component PIMMs, FCS has developed six-component PIMMs.”
Moreover, other products that gain FCS a competitive advantage include all-electric PIMMs that consume less energy and are environmentally friendly and PIMMs that can utilize recycled plastic and incorporate smart management. In the context of the underlying trend in the global industry of ESG-based green transition that pursues net-zero emissions, these products become the driver of FCS’s next round of business growths.
Alan Wang, the general manager and CEO of FCS, accepted CTWANT’s exclusive interview, leading the reporter into the FCS’s demonstration smart factory in Guanmiao, Tainan (with an area of approximately 9.7 hectares) and showed the reporter the strength of this 50-year-old company in innovation and R&D.
In this clean factory, a small-sized all-electric PIMM was producing a small batch of medicine bottle covers for a customer in the pharmaceutical industry. Seeing that some small solid granules in white and yellow fell into the in-operation machine, from which 12 orange covers dropped out approximately every 17 seconds, the reporter was wondering what was happening inside the machine. “The small white solid granules are plastic and the yellow ones are color master batches. They are injected in molten form into a mold where the liquid plastic is compressed due to the clamping force before cooling water is used to complete the molding process through fast cooling.” Alan Wang said.
Alan Wang opened the circuit box to show that the circuits inside the injection machine were clear and in order, while sharing with us that many customers would only decide to place an order after seeing that the circuits inside the machine and the safety configuration were good enough. (Photo/Reporter Geng-hao Liu)
Alan Wang stated that, as the electricity consumption with an all-electric PIMM will be less than 50% of that with a traditional PIMM, all industries that pursue net-zero emissions and green transition are considering to replace old PIMMs with all-electric ones, while the annual sales growth rate recorded 166% in 2023. FCS also encourages customers to utilize recycled plastic to significantly reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. However, he also emphasized that considering that recycled plastic has diverse shapes and not every PIMM can take it in, FCS has specifically conducted research on this issue.
While the in-operation machine was only a single-component PIMM, the greatest advantage of FCS lies in the development of multi-component PIMMs. He took two-color car light covers as an example. The production of the transparent and the red parts of a two-color car light cover traditionally required two PIMMs. The transparent part needed to be manufactured before being moved to the other PIMM for the manufacturing of the red part. Now, the injection of plastic in both colors can be completed with one PIMM. "While most of our peers are still working on two-color PIMMs, we have been in the lead, as we can manufacture six-component PIMMs!" It was 2023 when FCS successfully developed six-component PIMMs.
Alan Wang walked to another machine and opened the circuit box. The circuits inside were clear and in order. This is another secret technology that he is proud of. He described it as something that could only be done with the quality of Japanese craftsmen. This technology, coupled with a system that automatically shuts off in the face of danger, makes FCS far better than its peers even in terms of the most basic type of PIMMs. "Many customers will decide to place an order only after seeing the circuits inside the machine and the safety configuration are good enough. For example, our PIMMs can be exported to the USA, which has the strictest safety standards for PIMMs, while many of our peers can only stay in the Taiwanese market due to the failure to comply with its safety standards. According to Alan Wang’s estimates, the scale of FCS is at least three times larger than the peer in second place.
Starting electronic transformation in the 1980s, FCS outperforms its peers in terms of the integrated development of software and hardware. The iMF4.0 Intelligent Manufactory System that is currently under development by FCS will also provide support for the transformation of customers into smart manufacturing. (Photo/ News Group Database)
At last, Alan Wang guided us to the iMF4.0 Situation Room, where the displays on the wall show the production efficiency of in-operation machines outside in real time. "This smart manufacturing system not only can be connected to mobile phones so that customers can remotely check their orders and the operational status of the factory, but will also display the calculation results for carbon footprints in the future.” He said that FCS enables the real-time display of equipment efficiency and abnormal information through the connection with the Net and the integration of professional plastic injection molding technologies so that production managers can quickly grasp the situation and take countermeasures.
Ying-Ying Chang, the spokes-person of FCS who accompanied Alan Wang to the interview, added and stressed that FCS is not dwarfed by international competitors in terms of core competitiveness. It is particularly noteworthy that the key to plastic injection molding not only lies in equipment, but also in the integration with molds, supporting technologies and molding technologies. FCS has been established for 50 years, during which it has accumulated experience of the customized development and design of parameters and injection molding equipment and the application of relevant manufacturing technologies from more than 10,000 orders. “FCS will not only play a role of selling hardware, but will place the focus on the integration of software and hardware.”
According to the 2022 annual report of FCS, its annual expenses for R&D totaled NTD110 million, and the R&D team consisted of 98 employees. Alan Wang believed that R&D and innovation are the key to maintaining competitiveness and making FCS repeatedly capture the market in the face of the changing macroscopic environment. Along with the progress in smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0, the simplification of manufacturing flows and the enhancement of the awareness of energy conservation, customers also have an increasing demand for customized software and hardware. Additionally, FCS also adheres to two major trends. The first is green alternative materials and new molding technologies, and the second is the replacement of steel, wood, glass, etc. with plastic and other sustainable materials or the improvement of product life cycles.
Alan Wang introduced GENTREX, a physical foaming injection molding system developed by FCS. Lightweight sneaker insoles can be manufactured with physical foaming. It is expected that physical foaming will become an alternative technology for chemical foaming after the international footwear industry bans the use of chemical foaming agents in 2025. (Photo/Reporter Geng-hao Liu)
The European Union's ban on the sale of fuel vehicles in 2035 has acted as a significant catalyst for reforms in the electric vehicle industry. The more lightweight the manufactured electric vehicles are, the more benefits the manufacturers will gain. The ban also facilitates transition in the use of materials, which is characterized by the replacement of steel with plastic. As the transition can reduce the weight of auto parts and components by 40% and reduce carbon emissions in the stage of reproduction, the demand of the auto part industry for PIMMs will inevitably be increased, bringing substantial profits to FCS.
Moreover, FCS has also begun to plan for the next growth driver. Considering that the international footwear industry will ban the use of chemical foaming agents since 2025, FCS will have the opportunity to satisfy the demand for the replacement of old PIMMs by virtue of GENTREX, the physical foaming injection molding system diligently developed by FCS. Alan Wang said that lightweight, high-elasticity and low-deformation insoles required by quality sneakers can be manufactured with the MuCell micro-cellular foam injection molding process, while the physical foaming technology can reduce carbon emissions by approximately 60% in comparison with the traditional chemical foaming technology. Furthermore, the insoles are recyclable and conduce to green recycling.
Alan Wang recalled that the last successful product, the super-large horizontal two-component PIMM, had been under development for 10 years, and the development of GENTREX has also been conducted for 7-8 years so far. According to his estimates, it normally takes 8-10 years to see a good result for a technology. However, it is exactly because of the forward-looking philosophy of FCS and its continuous investment in R&D that it can maintain the momentum for advancement and progress in competition as a mountain climber in the past 50 years.
