A Pioneer in Chinese Language Computers

February 1983

中文

Hogs being auctioned at the Taipei County Livestock Market. The vital statistics are displayed clearly on the screen while the hogs are inspected and buyers place their bids.

During the past few years the information industry in the Republic of China has advanced rapidly and the government has designated it a strategic industry. Although large mainframe computers have been used in Taiwan for almost two decades, the computer industry here was not able to develop until the electronics industry had reached an advanced level. Most computer companies in Taiwan begin by importing foreign-made computers and then gradually develop their own products. Taiwan Automation Company is an example of a company successfully employing this strategy.

Established in 1974, TAC was pioneered by two National Taiwan University electrical engineering graduates, Hou Ching-hsiung and Li Chen-ying. Soon after TAC was established Hou and Li approached Intel of the U.S. with a detailed marketing proposal for microcomputers in Taiwan and became Intel's exclusive agent in Taiwan. However, in the mid-70's few people were familiar with microprocessors or micro-computers and TAC had to spend a great deal of energy promoting these products. At the same time TAC sent technicians to Intel to learn about the latest technological advances.

In 1977 Miao Feng-chiang, who was engaged by Intel to design microcomputers, returned to Taiwan to become the president of TAC. Miao believes that personnel are the key to the success of a computer company. In addition to sending technicians to Intel, TAC ensures that its staff are kept up-to-date by making sure they have access to all the latest literature on computers. TAC spends US$50,000 on publication purchases every year and has a department which is responsible for distributing reading material within the company.

Research and development is one of TAC's strong points. Of the company's 220 employees, 50 are engaged in research and development and the R & D budget, NT$40 million (US$1 million), is equivalent to 20 percent of the company's income.

Although TAC is not the first company to research Chinese language computer systems, the large investment in this area helped TAC in 1978 to be the first company to market Chinese language terminals, and in 1981 the company's Chinese language computer system was completed.

TAC is keenly aware of the fact that their computers must suit users' requirements. For this reason they have a special applications department which has developed computer systems for such diverse purposes as livestock auctions, warehousing, and traffic control.

Currently there are 19 livestock markets in Taiwan, and of the three markets which are computerized, two use the TAC system. "The computer system has increased our productivity immensely," said Lu Fang-ming, director of the Taipei County Livestock Market. "In the past we could only process 200 hogs per hour. Now we can process 1,800 hogs in six hours. . . . Moreover, there are now rarely any disputes because the computer keeps a record of everything."

In 1979 TAC worked together with C. Illies Company of West Germany to develop an automatic warehousing system for Far Eastern Company's warehouse in the port city of Kaohsiung. In 1981, TAC had gained enough experience in this area that it was able to complete most of the warehouse automation system for Far Eastern's Taichung harbor warehouse alone, requiring only advice from C. Illies Company.

Work has already begun on TAC's traffic control system for the Keelung to Yungmei section of the North South Freeway. This first stage is scheduled to be completed by March, 1984. The system includes signals which will automatically inform drivers of conditions ahead as well as keeping the control center informed about traffic volume and emergencies.

Miao is concerned that the local information industry is becoming overly competitive. He believes that companies should consider their main competition to be overseas computer companies and not each other. Hou believes that Taiwan should look to Korea as a good example of how the computer industry should grow. He observed, "Although Korea has less computer specialists, government restrictions have actually assisted that country's information industry develop."

[Picture Caption]

1. Hogs being auctioned at the Taipei County Livestock Market. The vital statistics are displayed clearly on the screen while the hogs are inspected and buyers place their bids. 2. Buyers at the Livestock Market concentrate on selecting hogs. 3. Miao Feng-chiang, president of TAC, hopes the current generation of young technicians will establish Taiwan's information industry. 4. Hou Ching-hsiung believes that Taiwan's computer companies ought to compete with overseas companies, not with each other.

1. The control center at the Far Eastern Company's Taichung warehouse. 2. A TAC engineer at work on research and development. The company's R&D budget is NT$40 million (US$1 million) annually. 3. Computerized bulk grain loading at the Taichung warehouse of the Far Eastern Company.