- TAIWANTODAY.TW - Taiwan Review - 01/Aug 00:00

Weaving Resilience

Taiwan dominates supply chains in the burgeoning field of functional textiles. Each summer the Han Kuang military exercises take place across Taiwan. The annual event drills defense strategy and deploys products developed by bodies including the Ministry of National Defense-overseen National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in northern Taiwan’s Taoyuan City. Private sector indigenous defense equipment has also come into use in recent years, including multispectral camouflage nets originally developed by NCSIST and now manufactured by Hoyu Textile Co. The company also supplies fabric for defense equipment like multispectral camouflage nets. (Photo by Chen Mei-ling)Hoyu’s new bulletproof fabric is used in equipment for defense and police personnel. (Photo by Chen Mei-ling)The Taoyuan-based company, which just celebrated its 60th year in business, is a leading manufacturer of industrial, health care and outdoor activity textiles used in items such as sails, blood pressure cuffs and tents, with new lines utilizing bulletproof fabric in equipment for soldiers and police. Hoyu is a member of the Taiwan Technical Textiles Association (TTTA) based at the Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) in New Taipei City. Established in 2004, the association comprises over 110 companies and industry associations encompassing dyeing, knitting, spinning, weaving and synthetic fabrics, in addition to government-supported R&D organizations. The latter category includes TTRI and the Industrial Technology Research Institute in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County as well as the Footwear and Recreation Technology Research Institute and the Plastics Industry Development Center, both based in the central city of Taichung. Taiwan Technical Textiles Association Chair Kirk Hwang at the Taiwan Textile Research Institute R&D showroom in New Taipei City (Photo by Chin Hung-hao)Embedding Collaboration Many TTTA member firms come from outside the textile industry as techno-fabrics are applied in 12 categories: agriculture, construction, ecology, geotechnology, household use, industry, medicine, packaging, protective and special use clothing, sports, and transportation. “We’ve formed a unique platform for cross-sector and multidisciplinary exchange and collaboration,” said TTTA Chair Kirk Hwang (黃鯤雄). Textile solutions result in fabrics with specific properties such as Hoyu’s anti-infrared, anti-radar camouflage nets. TTTA General Secretary Huang Po-hsiung (黃博雄), who is also TTRI’s vice president, pointed to next-generation products like the combination of electronics and fabrics. “These materials are durable enough to wash and dry without compromising circuit components,” he said. Hwang noted that over the past two decades, growing domestic production of functional fabrics signals a fresh technological advance in the long-established textile industry. “Innovation and integration of other disciplines produced new functionality, and we invite high-tech players to join the TTTA and share expertise on applied textiles,” he said, citing electronic paper maker E Ink Holdings Inc. based at Hsinchu Science Park in northern Taiwan and Arizon RFID Technology Co. in Taipei City. In the 1990s many Taiwan firms shifted manufacturing abroad to take advantage of lower labor costs. Those that remained, like Hoyu and southern Tainan City-based Chia Her Industrial Co., moved into functional textiles, finding the sector offered a competitive financial edge supported by growing domestic and overseas demand. Hoyu was originally a traditional fabric wholesaler based in Dihua Street, Taipei’s oldest fabric supply quarter. “We supplied the garment business for a long time,” Hoyu General Manager Charles Jwo (卓欽倫) recalled. “In the 2000s we saw an opportunity to transition out of apparel and began making material for backpacks and suitcases." Jwo described the business transformation as a shift toward a more upscale, value-added approach. “We incorporated refinements like coatings into our production processes, and we set up an R&D team in 2009,” he said. The mid-2010s saw a turning point for the company when it joined the A+ Industrial Innovation R&D Program, managed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), and established an R&D center, followed last year by a laboratory equipped to develop fabrics for vehicle safety airbags, life jackets and dinghies. In recent years Hoyu has received MOEA grants for small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies to upgrade to smart, low-carbon production models. Among the company’s green advances are carbon emissions assessment systems in its factories, allowing it to meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) business requirements from Western brands. Chia Her Industrial Co. based in the southern city of Tainan is a leading manufacturer of vehicle and mass transit interior fabrics. (Photo by Chen Mei-ling)Gear Change Chia Her has also focused on ESG requirements by reducing carbon emissions and using recycled water, according to Chase Wong (翁偉翔), company chair. Established in 1972, the company introduced Japanese techniques to create plaid fabrics from natural fibers like wool and cotton and was approached by luxury brands like Burberry. The firm saw its garment business reach a peak around 2000, when it countered escalating competition from China and Southeast Asia by expanding its scope beyond apparel. The firm has expanded its business scope beyond apparel to create moldings for vehicle interiors. (Photo by Chen Mei-ling)In the mid-2000s Chia Her started production of automobile interior fabric and in 2012 received an order from the British sports car manufacturer Gordon Murray Automotive for textiles for limited-edition, custom-built vehicles that cost millions of pounds each. Subsequently other top automotive brands including Jaguar, Land Rover and Tesla joined Chia Her’s exclusive client list, along with Taiwan Railway Corp. and other air and rail companies. “We want to expand our locally produced textiles into the domestic public transport interiors market while continuing to make progress in specialized global markets,” Wong said. In 2024 the firm joined the MOEA’s domestic investment initiative and began building an artificial intelligence-assisted factory in Tainan, scheduled for completion in 2027 and designed to meet international environmental standards and Western market requirements for certifiable sustainable production. Wong lauded government support for local enterprises that maintain manufacturing bases in Taiwan, helping the country develop a homegrown competitive edge. “Textiles are a light industry that can lead economic growth,” he said, calling for additional official funding and citing Toyota Motor Corp.’s origin in machine-powered loom manufacturing. “The sector has a strong foundation with transformational potential for varying applications and extension into other sectors,” he added. TTTA Chair Hwang agreed. “The textile industry has made great strides from producing everyday garments to creating fabrics with very specific applications,” he said, noting that the market for such material has been growing at home and abroad. Global production value for technical textiles amounted to US$164.6 billion in 2020 and has since increased by an average of 6.2 percent for each of the following five years, according to TTRI. Chia Her, Hoyu and other Taiwan companies have made their mark as key providers in global technical textile supply chains, and their forward-thinking approach will continue to secure their place among the world’s top suppliers.  Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw