Backed up by the Quality of Taiwan Manufacturers—An Interview with Taikoh Fastener

When Japan is mentioned, the general impression of a group of people “ with a strong sense of disciplines and group” comes to mind. Japan is a market sought after by the rest of the world. Other countries may depend on their population and the local markets, then what advantages does Taiwan have to find acceptance in the Japanese market? “Taiwan can provide us with any product we want, with its technologies and manufacturing quality, ” said President Kimura Yoshikazu of Taikoh Fastener in an interview.     

With an experience of procurement from Taiwan for nearly 30 years, Kimura set up a subsidiary of Kosaka Screw in Taiwan in 2011 with a main business of construction screws. The company also serves a a window for the Japanese businesses in purchasing building materials such as steel, special PVC tape and even the projectors from the Taiwan manufacturers. He noted that since the custom clearance and transportation costs are high in Japan, it would be difficult to buy only a small amount of goods which are put in containers not fully loaded. Kosaka Screw, with its headquarters based in Osaka, can ship the goods  their Japanese clients needed to Japan, now provide a service for those Japanese companies who has been eager to purchase Taiwan products.       

When asked why he set up a company in Taiwan, Kimura pointed to the conception change after he established a subsidiary in the Philippines in 2007. Before going to the Philippines, he was preoccupied with the idea that the Japanese small and medium businesses could not directly deal with the Taiwan manufacturers; this stereotype was broken only after he went to the Philippines. In the past business model, when the Japanese businesses dealt with the Taiwan manufacturers, the trading companies of both countries were involved. This had led to higher costs and more mistakes caused by misunderstandings arising from multi-layer communication. He felt sorry for the issues given his observation of Taiwan’s high-level techniques. To skip the Japanese trading companies, he had tried to place small orders with some Taiwan manufacturers, however, the advantage of direct purchase was offset by the transportation costs, forcing him to give up.         

“However, I still could not forget the attraction and potential of the Taiwan products,” said Kimura, “during the years I was in the Philippines”. An idea to set up a company for production and export in Taiwan was conceived. With the establishment of Kosaka Screws Taiwan, the communication between the two sides has always been accurate. The supervision by President Kimura in Taiwan to always ensure the quality required by the customers is met with a focus on the details as each order receives high recognition.
When asked by many why he chose Taiwan rather than China, his answer is that he is more familiar with the business conditions in Taiwan. Moreover, as he does not procure products from China on a frequent basis, apprehension of the local conditions is a big concern for him. He points out that most of the orders placed with Kosaka Screws Taiwan come from the Philippine subsidiaries of Japanese companies and the clients are 100 percent Japanese. For this, Kimura believes that the Taiwan manufacturers’ conception of the Japanese market goes beyond selling products to Japan only to encompass the Japanese businesses in different parts of the world, which could become the customers in the future. 

“Shipping Date, Quality, Then Price”

“The Taiwanese companies are all very friendly to the Japanese businesses.” said Kimura with a smile. He noted that in the beginning when he was contacting the Taiwan manufacturers, they all showed very high interest in the cooperation as they knew Kosaka was from Japan. The local makers also have an understanding of the requirements of the Japanese clients. The communication can be more complicated in the beginning but there will no major changes when everything is confirmed. For quality control, the Japanese businesses use drawings and statistics to help to communicate important requirements with their partners and care about the precision. It is needed to perceive that the quality and precision come always first.

Currently, the biggest obstacle for him for doing business in Taiwan is the language. “Many times I want to express what I think, but I just can’t do it,” said he, “and even there is a very good communication, mistakes are still found in the products received”. His complaint reveals Taiwan’s lack of bilingual talent with professional knowledge in the fastener and metalware industry. He believes a good understanding of each other’s languages can help reduce problems to a large degree and shorten the gap between both sides in the understanding of the quality requirements.         

In addition, although Taiwan had now developed their business towards delicate packages, the Japanese provider, however, use to prepare common order product in their storage for what if, small amount of order. Such approach is not very popular yet among the Taiwan manufacturers who usually deal with large orders of 100,000 or 500,000 pieces. However, the Japanese clients may look for much smaller orders such as 100 pieces even at a higher price. Kimura believes the Taiwan manufacturers have a shared interest in moving towards smaller orders with a more delicate quality in the face of the challenges of the Chinese makers which are improving their techniques increasingly.     

The Japanese manufacturers have wiring of all sizes and take small orders with speedy shipment. Kimura recommends the Taiwan manufacturers who want to cooperate with the Japanese businesses to have a stock of the goods for which orders are often placed. A delivery lead time of 60-75 days currently observed by the local makers can make it hard for the Japanese buyers as they can not predict their product needs three months after. Therefore, a stock always ready for small shipments could allow the Taiwan manufacturers to maintain a long-term cooperation with the Japanese clients.

The Spirit of “yishokenme (Trying Your Best)”

At last, Kimura suggested the Taiwan manufacturers to try diverse orders in small quantities instead of large orders of the same type. “I think the Taiwan manufacturers can overcome this issue with their techniques.” He reemphasized that since the Japanese or foreign clients may not know the local manufacturers very well in the beginning, it’s impossible for them to give large orders, it would be advisable to start with small orders to start the cooperation along the way.

There is a Japanese idiom “yishokenme” which means giving serious and committed efforts. The idiom best depicts the fastener manufacturers in Taiwan and Japan as they strive to overcome all the difficulties.