Innovations by Taiwan Textile Makers

台灣紡織業 創新帶動復興

By Lin Yang

TAIPEI – Jason Chen knows what it feels like for globalization to threaten his family business.
家族企業生存受到全球化威脅的滋味，陳國欽很清楚。

In 1992, he went to China to find inexpensive raw materials for his garment and blanket business in Taiwan, following his competitors in the textile industry as they rushed to the mainland for free land, inexpensive labor and loose environmental regulations.
他的紡織業對手曾競相前往大陸，看中免費使用的土地，廉價的勞力與寬鬆的環保法規。1992年陳國欽追隨同業腳步，為他在台灣的成衣與毛毯事業尋找便宜的原物料。

But when a shipment of cloth he bought proved defective, his client rejected his garments, and he lost about $100,000. It was enough to push him to establish Singtex Industrial to focus on developing higher-value, waterproof synthetic cloth.
然而他購進的一批布有瑕疵，客戶不接受他生產的成衣，害他約賠了10萬美元。這促使他創立興采實業股份有限公司，研發價值較高的防水合成布。

“When you go cheap, you have no good quality control,” he said. “Many of us went to China for a new, sweet beginning, but tasted only bitterness in the end.”
他說：「走低價路線品管不可能好。許多同業當初前往大陸追求新的、甜美的開始，最後卻嘗到苦頭。」

Singtex’s story parallels the transformation of the textile industry in Taiwan over the last two decades. Once the mainstay of Taiwan’s economic development, textiles have given way to high-technology components. Fabric mills and garment factories moved offshore to focus on lower costs and higher volumes.
興采的例子堪稱20年來台灣紡織業轉型過程的寫照。紡織業曾是台灣經濟發展的主幹，如今已被高科技元件產業取代。紡織與成衣廠為降低成本、提高產量而紛紛轉往海外。

Yet the industry has re-emerged over the past 15 years, with companies spinning out high-technology fabrics that are sought out by European and North American brands for use in products like ski jackets, sports jerseys and outdoor furniture.
然而過去15年間台灣紡織業再次興起，部分業者生產的高科技布料獲歐洲與北美知名品牌青睞，產品包括滑雪夾克、運動套衫與戶外家具。

“These fabrics have special production, coating and lamination processes, and we want to keep those patents here,” said Robert Jou, a director at the state-funded Taiwan Textile Research Institute.
財團法人紡織產業綜合研究所的周國村主任說：「這些布料有特殊的生產、塗層與層壓流程。我們想把相關專利留在這裡。」

Data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange for 2010, the most recent year for which figures are available, show the average net margin at textile companies was 12.7 percent, compared with 7.6 percent for companies producing electronic products like semiconductors, computers and communication components.
根據目前能取得的最晚近數據，台灣證券交易所對2010所做統計，台灣紡織業者淨利潤平均約12.7%，高於半導體、電腦與通信器材零組件等電子產品廠商的7.6%。

Singtex owns 34 patents, including one for S.Cafe, a polyester cloth with recycled coffee grounds mixed into it to absorb odors. Timberland and Hugo Boss brands are customers, and Singtex has a deal to supply fabric for the Liverpool soccer club’s uniforms.
興采目前擁有34項專利，包括S.Cafe科技咖啡紗專利。這種聚酯衣料摻有回收咖啡渣，能吸收異味。知名品牌Timberland與Hugo Boss是它的客戶。興采並與英國利物浦足球會簽有合約，供應隊服的布料。

Mr. Chen’s company survived the industry’s exodus to China, but many others did not. Exports dropped by 44 percent in dollar terms from 1997 to 2009, according to data from the Taiwan Ministry of Finance.
陳國欽的公司未因同業大舉遷往大陸而倒地不起，許多同行卻一一停業。據財政部統計，1997至2009年間台灣紡織業以美元計出口總額銳減44%。

There were 7,752 textile companies in 1997, but by 2010, only 4,299 were left, according to the textile institute’s data. Mills that did not do research and development, or did not have the ability to invest in innovation, could not compete and many of them went out of business.
據紡織產業綜合研究所統計，1997年台灣紡織公司有7,752家，至2010年只剩4,299家。不從事研發或缺少創新投資能力的業者無力競爭，只能關廠。

“The ones that survived focused on innovative products to serve higher-value demand in Europe and United States,” said Chen Lee-in, a senior economist at the state-funded Chung-Hua Institute for Economic Research. The new business environment spawned companies like Hyperbola Textile, whose 24 employees work in a chic loft office in Neihu, a high-technology hub in Taipei.
財團法人中華經濟研究院高級經濟學家陳麗瑛說：「存活的業者專注開發創新產品，以滿足歐美市場對附加價值較高產品的需求。」新環境造就寧美公司之類後起之秀。該公司的24名員工在內湖科學園區的一個樓面工作。

Hyperbola found its niche in designing high-performance outdoor clothing, like ski jackets and raincoats, and supplies brands like Canada Goose, Lululemon and Patagonia. It also produces fade-resistant outdoor cushions. The company has no factory. Instead, it finds mills in Taiwan to make the fabrics.
寧美找到了利基，專注於設計高品質戶外服裝，如滑雪夾克及雨衣，是Canada Goose、Lululemon、Patagonia等品牌的供應商，並生產抗褪色戶外坐墊。該公司沒有自己的工廠，委託台灣的一些工廠生產各種布料。

Tina Wang, Hyperbola’s founder, said that they needed fabrics that could withstand harsh weather conditions, which Chinese mills often lack the technology to produce.
寧美創辦人王園甯表示，她與工作夥伴需要的布料須禁得起嚴酷天候的考驗，大陸的工廠通常缺少必要的技術。

Companies like Singtex and Hyperbola have powered the textile sector’s resurrection. Exports for the industry, at $12.7 billion in 2011, have climbed to 24 percent below the 1997 peak.
興采、寧美等公司是台灣紡織業復興的驅動者。業界2011年出口總額約127億美元，只比1997年高峰期少24%。

But the unit price of fabrics has risen by 41 percent since 1999 to $5.20 per kilogram, an indication that the industry has shifted to higher-value products.
然而1999年至今布料單位價格已大增41%，來到每公斤5.2美元，顯示這個產業已轉而著重設計並生產高價值產品。

Yet Chinese textile mills are learning production technologies that were first brought to the mainland by investors from Taiwan. Ms. Chen estimated that China was 5 to 10 years behind Taiwan technologically.
另一方面，大陸的紡織廠已開始學習當初台灣投資人帶過去的生產技術。陳麗瑛認為大陸的技術落後台灣5到10年。

“Our companies took a few pages to the mainland, but they avoided bringing the whole manual,” she said. “Technologies like ultrathin, waterproof, breathable fabrics, we still own. In the future, we may need to build spacesuits to stay ahead.”
她說：「我們的業者通常會帶幾頁說明前往大陸，避免把全套手冊帶過去。超薄、防水、透氣這些布料科技還抓在我們手裡。未來，我們可能必須研製太空裝，以保持領先的地位。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/business/global/textile-makers-in-taiwan-create-a-high-tech-niche.html

紐時中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/article/business/2012/12/14/c14textiles/

2013-01-08聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報八版右