Explore the Development Strategy of Taiwan's Printing Industry in the New Century

Since attending the 7th World Printing Conference and the 5th International Printing Technology Exhibition held in Beijing, they have been deeply impressed by the substantial progress made by the mainland in actively promoting the printing industry policy and overall economic construction. It is undeniable that under the trend of co-prosperity of the global economic system in the 21st century, the tariff barriers to protect local industries will be gradually broken, and the international competition will inevitably become more intense. In the face of the rapid changes in the global printing industry's ecology in the future, Taiwan needs to have a more in-depth review and re-adjust its industrial strategy in response to changes in the market environment.

With the taking off of Taiwan’s economic development, the printing industry in Taiwan has had the glory of orders. Due to rapid changes in technology, large fluctuations in the overall economic environment, and the loss of orders caused by the relocation of manufacturing industries, many companies have Feeling pressure and lamenting printing difficulties. However, is printing really difficult? Looking around the Asian region, countries such as Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore, etc., the proportion of the printing industry in the manufacturing industry is rising year by year. Under the continuous suppression of domestic companies and foreign investment, the outlook is promising. On the other hand, in the eyes of the majority of Taiwanese people, the printing industry is neither a high-tech industry, that is, it is regarded as a traditional civilian production industry, and ignoring the importance and development potential of the industry itself is undoubtedly self-limiting and strangling the future of the industry.

For more than a decade, with regard to the development of the printing technology, the prepress can be said to be nearly 100% digitized. In terms of printing, the introduction of digital printing equipment has increased rapidly, and the investment amount last year alone was at least 50 percent. More than 100 million yuan, and the general development of the Internet, the digitalization environment and the maturity of the broadband, the technical cooperation of printing-related enterprises in the midstream and lower reaches gradually formed. These changes are enough to prove that the strength of the printing industry is being boosted by digital technology. Under the cohesion and integration, more Yuan's development potential has been derived. From a market perspective, among the consumer goods that people use in everyday life, they are all related to printing and are a stable domestic demand industry. With the simplification of the printing process, consumers can provide more convenient and diverse printing services, so that the personalized market is expanding rapidly; in addition, under the double enhancement of people’s knowledge level and spending power, the cultural publishing market is more active and information integration. The strong demand for services has brought business opportunities for the lithographers to provide diversified services, and it has also attracted information providers to invest in this potentially inexhaustible knowledge consumer market. To combine the development conditions created by the combination of these technologies and the environment, we really have no reason to be pessimistic about the printing industry. We must also be more active in paving the way for the future to enhance our position in the Chinese language printing market.

From the analysis of the current situation of the printing industry, we can see that the printing industry has more room for development that can be broken through. However, the industry is generally immersed in the sense of powerlessness in the traditional industry, losing its forward-looking motivation and courage.

From the advantage of the printing industry:

1. At present, the printing industry in Taiwan has been moving toward digital automation, and its efficiency and quality have been greatly improved.

2. The academic qualifications of practitioners have generally improved. The recognition of professional and technical certifications by the industry, the growth of on-the-job education and cross-disciplinary learning have all increased, virtually accumulating human assets for industrial upgrading.

3. The vigorous development of communications and information technology has supported the digitization and technology research of the printing process, accelerated cross-media and cross-regional technological breakthroughs, and opened up broader business opportunities.

4. The general increase in cultural education and spending power in Taiwan is relatively deficient in the quality and quantity of printed materials, which helps stimulate the growth of the industry.

From the current industry weakness:

1. Taiwan’s labor and environmental protection awareness is high, and the cost of the industry’s investment in manpower and environmental protection increases.

2. The printing industry's business trends are going to be polarized, and the development of medium-sized enterprises is facing a bottleneck in the transition.

3. There are still competitions between bargaining in the industry, causing a vicious cycle.

4, the machine relies on imports, technology and spare parts are not available and it is difficult to master key technologies.

5. The national standards have not been established, and the quality of the printed products has been identified as uneven, affecting export development.

In terms of opportunities for environmental creation:

1. It is conducive to the formation of a strategic alliance for vertical and horizontal integration because of the ease of information exchange and popularization of the Internet.

2. As Taiwan's print publications actively explore overseas markets, it is expected to drive the development of the printing plant business.

3. The information dissemination methods are diversified. Publications are not confined to the traditional plane, and business development space is large.

4. After the mainland's decree on cultural publishing and printing was loosened, the lithographic printing industry is expected to substantially expand its business territory.

In terms of threats:

1. The printing industry in the mainland and Southeast Asia has developed rapidly and international competition pressure has increased dramatically.

2. The raw materials and labor costs are higher than those of the mainland and Southeast Asian countries.

3. Affected by other manufacturing industries, they will affect printing business volume.

4. The employment manpower is obviously biased toward emerging industries, and it is not easy for the printing industry to absorb talents.

Looking at the foregoing analysis, Taiwan's printing industry has worked together for more than ten years under the joint efforts of government officials, academics, and research institutes. It can be said that a very sound development base has been constructed, and how to stand at the current starting point and respond quickly to the situation and environment Changing the vision and strategy for the future is the most urgent requirement in the industry. Especially after joining the WTO, it will face the strong impact of international market liberalization competition, and the market will be unavoidable to consolidate and expand the offensive and defensive battle; at the same time, how should we respond to the low raw material and labor costs of other countries as competitive chips? All are worth pondering.

The Strategy and Measures for the Development of the Printing Industry formulated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan in 1998 has revealed important strategic principles and feasible measures for the development of the printing industry in Taiwan. The key points include:

1. Promote the printing division of labor system: Encourage the printing industry strategic alliance to form a competitive advantage and expand overseas markets; and promote the cooperation of international printing research institutions.

2. Strengthen the professional information system: establish the database of the printing industry system, market, technical information; promote the business system that helps foreign entities collect local printing information and market opportunities.

3. Develop key printing technologies: Use academic research units to conduct key technology assessments and develop high-value-added technologies and products; Use the Science and Technology Project Plan to develop key technologies to transfer private units; Strengthen technology with related R&D institutions in China Exchange and cooperation; promote printing standardization and establish printing inspection and verification technology.

4. Plan human resources and nurture professional talents for printing: nurture talents by using the “Training Program for Printing Industry Talents”, apply the Printed Skills Test Plan for Printing Technology to implement the printing license system, and establish year-by-year course notes, series books and correspondence audiovisual teaching materials. Publishing course materials.

5. Promoting technology promotion and guidance in the printing industry: Using the "Typographical Technology Promotion and Guidance Program", "Assisting the Domestic Traditional Industrial Technology Upgrade Plan," and other government counseling industry plans to promote technological upgrading and assisting the industry in developing technology integration and new products. Research and development.

In the past few years, in accordance with the direction developed by the strategy, and in line with the government's assistance in the implementation of various industrial upgrading project plans, it has indeed received enthusiastic response from the industry. With the improvement of the enterprise's constitution, the transformation and upgrading of technology has achieved results. However, in my opinion, at this stage, the guidance of the printing industry tends to focus on the application of production problems. After the gradual decline in the technological gap among the factories, the competitiveness will be difficult to highlight. Especially in the rapid development of digital technology and the massive circulation of information, many electronic manufacturing industries have moved from labor-intensive to knowledge-intensive. This has greatly accelerated the pace of innovation and research and development and has driven the rapid growth of the industry. This is why the printing industry must actively follow the example. Therefore, the most important task in the future should be to stimulate the self-consciousness and creativity of the enterprise itself, and to tie in with the country's overall industrial development strategies and measures before it can keep pace with the growth of other emerging industries. In the future, the main force of Taiwan’s development strategy and counselling for the printing industry should be to encourage the industry to develop in the following directions:

1. To enhance industrial design innovation and added value:

(1) A new cross-cutting technology can be used to develop new markets and new customers using the "industry development industry technology plan" and "improved traditional industry competitiveness plan - new product/new technology development".

(2) Development of creative orientation business to increase the added value outside the printing industry.

(3) The scope of business is moving towards diversified services and actively meets customer needs.

2. Accelerate the electronicization of enterprises and develop e-commerce models:

The “Automation and Electronics Program for Manufacturing” can be used to assist printing companies to develop consistent connected production, integrated management of enterprise resources, and business transaction platform for printing companies under the existing digital and automation foundations, in order to meet the requirements of the future. Digital management, networked business transaction trends.

3. Strengthen the training of digital printing, cross-field technology, design and foreign trade talents:

It is possible to use the "Training of Technical Personnel in the Printing Industry" program at the present stage and expand the scope of the printing professional courses to art design, cross-domain technology application, and marketing.

4. Strengthen guidance on industrial pollution prevention and control:

(1) The pollution prevention and industrial safety and health consultation services provided by the "Pollution Prevention Technical Guidance Program" and "Industrial Safety and Health Technology Guidance Program" may be used.

(2) Encourage the industry to promote the ISO12000 environmental quality certification and improve the production environment. At the same time, it will help improve the corporate image and gain the recognition of overseas partners.

Looking around at the competition in the global printing industry, we believe that the key to the long-term livelihood of the printing industry in Taiwan is not the hardware equipment investment competition, but rather the correctness of the development direction, the proper use of strategies, the mastery of technological knowledge, and The promotion of talent education. If we do not apply rules and enrich the rules now, our country's printing industry will soon face the fault of development. At the moment, we must start from the traditional business logic and start again as soon as possible, and follow the pulse of the world's industrial development trends and continue to grow. We believe that Taiwan's printing industry still has the strength to establish itself in Taiwan and market the world.