Taiwan’s Largest Plastic Injection Molding Machine Manufacturer 3/ Having Turned Monochromatic Toothbrushes in Taiwan Multi-colored FCS Aims to Be Among the Global Top 10 PIMM Manufacturers on its 50th Anniversary
As this year marks the 50th anniversary of FCS, Alan Wang, the 2nd generation successor to and CEO of FCS, led tier-one members of the management to sing the song Set Out Again and all employees to shout “setting up several more world-class factories with an area of approximately 9.7 hectares and making FCS be among the global top 10 plastic machinery manufacturers”. (Photo/FCS)
FCS (6603), Taiwan’s largest plastic injection molding machine (PIMM) manufacturer, held an event in its Tainan factory to celebrate its 50th anniversary at the beginning of this year. In the event, Alan Wang, the 2nd generation successor to and CEO of FCS, led tier-one members of the management to sing the song Set Out Again and all employees to shout “setting up several more world-class factories with an area of approximately 9.7 hectares and making FCS be among the global top 10 plastic machinery manufacturers”. Alan Wang accepted CTWANT’s exclusive interview, in which he revealed to us that he didn’t officially succeed to FCS before spending 20 years on shouldering the responsibilities of CEO without assuming the position, which was quite long for second generation successors. In this process, the company’s annual revenue had grown from NTD 700 million to NTD 3.8 billion in the previous year. Nonetheless, he has sworn to achieve annual revenue of NTD 10 billion.
FCS was co-founded by the chairman Po-hsun Wang and his two brothers, Po-hsiang Wang and Po-li Wang, as a lathe factory named “Fu Chun Ironworks” in 1974 in their residence in Fu Chun Road, Tainan City. With a limited capital at the start-up stage, the company could only engage in businesses such as servicing, the trade of second-hand machines and part processing. As the performance and quality of the machines sold and processed by the company received public recognition, the company had grown increasingly more famous.
As for the second generation of the Wangs, the first son Jerry Wang (first from right) was born in 1971 and the second son Alan Wang (first from left) was born in 1973. Alan Wang shared with us that the chairman Po-hsun Wang (second from right) often jokes at home that he has three sons, and the youngest one is FCS, which was established in 1974. (Photo/FCS)
With business expansion, FCS transformed into a PIMM manufacturer and moved to An-Ping Industrial District four years after its establishment. In the 1980s, it became the first among its peers to complete the transformation from semi-automatic manufacturing to fully automatic manufacturing. “This was the company's first period of rapid growth.” Alan Wang said that all PIMMs at that time were semi-automatic and needed to be watched over. FCS was the first company in the industry to implement fully automatic manufacturing. “At that time, fully automatic PIMMs had excellent sales performance. Not after we had gained a reputation within the industry and made enough money, didn’t we move the factory to Guanmiao and expand the factory area by 10 times.”
All employees of the company know that the chairman had had the dream of expanding the factory area to approximately 9.7 hectares for a long time. In a past visit to Japan, Po-hsun Wang saw that the factory of the Japanese manufacturer had a scale that was as large as unable to be completely viewed unless from a plane. He was deeply impressed and ambitiously dreamed about the company’s future. After returning to Taiwan, he plotted the “blueprint for the 10-year factory expansion plan” and put it in the company’s product catalog. He also courageously doubled the annual revenue target, raising it from approximately NTD500 million to NTD1 billion.
FCS’s spokes-person Ying-ying Chang, who has worked for FCS for 40 years, recalled: “Mr. Wang printed his ideas about how many factories would be built in the future and how the internal design was to be implemented in the product catalog, and asked every one of us to distribute it to customers, so that everyone could see that FCS aimed to become a world-class factory with an area of approximately 9.7 hectares. It was not only a self-reminder, but also a statement of our determination for customers.” FCS didn’t break its promise, as it took less than 10 years for FCS to achieve its target. In 1991, the former factory with an area of approximately 0.97 hectares in An-Ping Industrial District was relocated to its current site in Guanmiao, Tainan, and had an area of approximately 9.7 hectares. Now, FCS is planning for setting up factories in the Chinese mainland.
The “blueprint for the 10-year factory expansion plan” plotted by Po-hsun Wang in the 1980s was disclosed for the first time, and the planned scheme was in line with the current layout of FCS’s factory in Guanmiao, Tainan. Po-hsun Wang is a lifetime learner, who even completed a thesis and obtained a doctorate in engineering at his 70s. (Photo/newspaper database, FCS)
“The establishment of the factories in Dongguan and Ningbo in the Chinese mainland since 1994 marked the company’s second period of rapid growth.” Alan Wang recalled that when two-component PIMMs were first developed in Japan, long-established stationery manufacturers wanted to develop two-color pen caps and Colgate also wanted to develop two-color toothbrush handles. For this reason, Po-hsun Wang developed two-component PIMMs by himself. Since then, the monochromatic toothbrushes previously commonly seen in Taiwan have become multi-colored, and FCS has become a leading PIMM manufacturer in Taiwan. This, coupled with the operation of FCS’s factories in the Chinese mainland, resulted in a ground-breaking growth in the company’s revenue. It has been listed since 2004 and is the only publicly traded PIMM manufacturer in Taiwan.
Po-hsun Wang graduated from National Tainan Industrial Vocational School and majored in cartography. As he is good at customization, differentiated services become an advantage of FCS. “Mr. Wang often says ‘if we don’t it today, we’ll regret tomorrow’. He is forward-looking and has the courage to make investments. That’s why the company can have today’s scale.” Ying-ying Chang has worked for FCS for 40 years. In her description, Po Hsun Wang is very amiable, never put on airs and graces, and has a young soul and a great curiosity about new things. He even completed a thesis in person and obtained a doctorate in engineering at National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology at the age of 75.
In this context, FCS started electronic transformation in 1983 and has remained to be a forerunner within the industry in terms of both the application of the Management Information System (MIS) and the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. “It is often difficult for some people to imagine that a traditional enterprise in southern Taiwan can implement electronic transformation so thoroughly!” Ying-ying Chang added: “R&D and innovation are a trait of all members of the Wangs!” After Alan Wang succeeded to FCS, FCS has made a number of industry-leading achievements based on the iMF4.0 Intelligent Manufactory system. Its achievements in terms of the development of all-electric PIMMs, the compliance with the low-carbon trend and the recycling of plastic excels those of its peers.
The biggest challenge to FCS after Alan Wang succeeded to FCS was the establishment of the Indian factory in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the closing of the borders. FCS survived the hard times by appointing Indian employees as seeded employees who accepted training in Taiwan and copied the work flows back to India. (Photo/FCS Facebook )
Po-hsun Wang had two sons. The elder son Jerry Wang is currently the deputy chairman of FCS Group and in charge of the group’s business in the Chinese mainland. The younger son Alan Wang is the general manager and CEO of FCS. Alan Wang was born in 1973 and is two years younger than his elder brother. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at National Cheng Kung University and a master’s degree in automatic control at National Sun Yat-sen University, Alan Wang joined FCS in 2000 and spearheaded the revamping of the brand's corporate identity in 2011. Subsequently, he accelerated the implementation of the company’s international layout. The establishment of FCS India and the Ningbo Hangzhou Bay Factory was his decision after his assumption of the position of CEO.
Alan Wang said that FCS was the first Taiwanese manufacturer in the machinery and equipment industry to set up a factory in India, and did this mainly because it was optimistic about India’s demographic dividend. However, as soon as the Indian factory was established, the global COVID-19 pandemic broke out. At that time, FCS could do nothing but offer training for Indian employees in Taiwan, who were later designated as seeded employees and sent back to India. While they copied the quality assurance procedures in Taiwan to India, remote management was implemented through video conferences. Thanks to these Indian members of the management, the operation of the factory was maintained and the crisis in cross-border management caused by border control was resolved.
“Succession doesn’t mean immediate success and success takes time. The chairman has accumulated a lot of experience of decision-making, which is the most difficult part to be inherited.” Alan Wang was reminded of the moment five years ago when he was informed by his father that he could officially succeed to FCS only a week before the official succession. He believed that, at that time, his father considered that he and his brother were mature enough, as well as could make decisions without causing severe consequences, and therefore “passed the baton”.
“It's a progressive process. I shouldered the responsibilities of CEO before the assumption of the position of CEO.” “Succeeding to the company at the age of 45 is quite late for second generation successors, but it is also a necessary process of talent cultivation for the machinery industry.” When Alan Wang joined the company in 2000, the annual revenue was only NTD780 million. In comparison, the maximum annual revenue recorded NTD4.61 billion by 2022, and the current rank of FCS within the industry by market share is between the 20th-25th places. Since the annual revenue of the world’s 10th largest PIMM manufacturer is about USD300 million, Alan Wang has already set the goal to make FCS included in the list of global top 10 plastic machinery manufacturers and is maneuvering it at full speed towards the annual revenue target of NTD10 billion!
