Textile Makers in Taiwan Create a High-Tech Niche By LIN YANG

高科技創新造就台灣紡織業復興

LIN YANG 報道 2012年12月14日

Justin Guariglia for The International Herald Tribune

興采實業位於台灣觀音鄉的工廠內，一名工人正把布料從染布機中取出。正是興采和寧美這樣的公司重新振興了台灣的紡織業。

台北——陳國欽(Jason Chen)知道全球化威脅到自己的家族生意是什麼滋味。
1992年，他來到中國大陸，為他在台灣的服裝和毛毯企業尋找廉價原材料。在他之前，有許多紡織業內的競爭者都因為大陸免費的土地、廉價的勞動力和寬鬆的環保政策，而爭先恐後地前往大陸。

但是有一次，因為他購買的一批布料存在瑕疵，他的服裝遭到了客戶退貨，他因此損失了大約10萬美元（約合63萬元人民幣）。這件事促使他開始親自處 理布料問題，後來，他成立了興采實業股份有限公司(Singtex Industrial)，專註於生產價值更高的防水合成纖維面料。
“如果走廉價路線，就不會有質量保證，”他說，“我們當中有很多人去大陸尋找嶄新而甜蜜的開始，最後卻只嘗到了苦頭。”
興采實業的故事反映了台灣紡織業在過去20年里發生的轉變。紡織業過去曾是台灣經濟發展的支柱，現在它已經讓位給了高科技設備和部件。過去20年，紡織廠和服裝廠紛紛撤離台灣，把注意力放在了降低成本和提高產量上。
然而，過去15年里湧現出了一批大量生產高科技面料的公司，紡織業又重新興起。這些公司的產品受到了歐洲和北美品牌的極大歡迎。這些材料主要用於製造滑雪服、運動衫、戶外傢具和消防人員的保護裝置。
在台灣政府資助的紡織產業綜合研究所(Taiwan Textile Research Institute)擔任主任的周國村(Robert Jou)說，“這些面料的生產工藝、塗層和層壓過程都很特殊，我們想把這些專利技術留在台灣。”
台灣證券交易所(Taiwan Stock Exchange)2010年的數據顯示，紡織企業的平均凈利潤率為12.7%，而生產半導體、電腦和通訊設備等電子產品的公司，平均凈利潤率則為7.6%。2010年的數據是能夠獲得的最新數據。
興采實業擁有34項專利，其中一項是S.Cafe咖啡紗，這種聚酯布料中使用了咖啡渣，而咖啡渣是從當地7-Eleven便利店和星巴克 (Starbucks)回收的。這種布料能夠吸收異味，為其增添了適合製作運動服裝的附加價值。興采實業的客戶包括添柏嵐(Timberland)和雨果 博斯(Hugo Boss)，它甚至已經達成協議，要為利物浦足球俱樂部的隊服供應面料。
在大批台灣紡織企業向中國大陸轉移的時候，陳國欽的公司倖存了下來，但很多其他公司卻倒閉了。根據台灣財政部提供的數據，從1997年到2009 年，台灣紡織品的出口額按美元計算下降了44%。那些沒有進行研發或者沒能力投資進行創新的紡織企業，因為缺乏競爭力而被淘汰出局。
紡織產業綜合研究所的數據顯示，1997年台灣共有7752家紡織企業，而到2010年，只剩下4299家。
“那些生存下來的企業，都專註於創新型產品，以滿足歐美對高價值產品的需求。”台灣政府資助的中華經濟研究院(Chung-Hua Institute for Economic Research)的高級經濟學家陳麗瑛(Chen Lee-In)說。“紡織業屬於低技術含量行業的看法，真的已經發生了改變。”
這種新的商業環境，催生了大批像寧美股份有限公司(Hyperbola Textile)這樣的企業，該公司的24名員工在內湖區一處時尚的穀倉式辦公室里工作，內湖區是台北的高科技中心。
寧美找到了自己的細分市場，即設計滑雪服和雨衣等高性能戶外服裝，該公司同時還是加拿大鵝(Canada Goose)、露露檸檬(Lululemon)和巴塔哥尼亞(Patagonia)等品牌的供應商，此外還生產不易褪色的戶外靠墊。
這家公司沒有工廠，它在台灣尋找代工工廠來生產面料。
寧美的創始人王園甯(Tina Wang)說，雖然她的客戶在台灣下的訂單數，比在中國大陸下的訂單數少，但是他們需要可以抵禦惡劣天氣條件和嚴酷環境的面料，但中國的紡織企業通常沒有生產這些材料的技術。
2011年，王園甯的公司及其合作紡織廠為了滿足這種需求生產了350種面料。
“我們選擇留下來，是因為我們看到台灣仍然有極富創新能力的紡織廠，”她說，“不過它們的營銷十分薄弱，我們提供設計和營銷平台，這樣它們就能在全球市場上分一杯羹。”
像興采實業和寧美股份這樣反應敏捷的公司，推動了紡織產業的復蘇。整個產業的出口額2011年攀升到了127億美元，僅比1997年頂峰時的出口額 低24%。不過衡量價值的另一個標準，即紡織品單價，與1999年相比上升了41%，達到每千克5.2美元（約合32元人民幣），這顯示出台灣紡織產業已 經轉向了附加值更高的產品。
在那些轉而生產更昂貴織物的企業，利潤已經大幅提高。陳國欽透露，興采實業2011年的收入較2010年增長了35%，其毛利率在2011年提高到了超過25%（毛利指銷售額減去商品成本）。他計劃讓公司在2013年上市，不過他不願透露更詳細的數據。
王園甯也不願透露寧美股份的財務狀況，不過她表示，“可以說，比台灣大多數科技企業好得多。”
不過好日子可能會很短暫。中國大陸的紡織企業也正在學習和採納起初由台灣投資者帶到大陸的生產技術。經濟學家陳麗瑛估計，大陸技術比台灣落後5到10年，這對台灣企業長期構成壓力，促使其不斷創新。
“我們的企業會帶幾頁紙到大陸，但它們不會帶去完整的手冊，”陳麗瑛說，“我們仍然掌握着超薄、防水、透氣面料的紡織技術。到未來，我們可能需要製造太空服才能繼續領先。”
菁華工業(Kingwhale Industries)董事長黃彥一(Peter Huang)表示，他的顧客是找不到能夠滿足其需求的大陸廠家之後，才找上門來的。菁華工業是一家保暖絨頭織物供應商。
“他們親眼看到我們的產品，對我們說很不錯，緊接着，第二天就帶着我們的樣品飛到上海或者廣州，”黃彥一說，“然後我們收到了一個很難堪的請求，一家大陸廠家要我們教他們怎樣建立生產流程。”
菁華工業正在尋求與美國紡織實驗室開展合作，從而保證技術領先。黃彥一計劃本月前往北卡羅來納州立大學(North Carolina State University)購買一項專利，之後再檢查附近的土地價格。該公司可能會在當地建設一家工廠，直接向美國市場供應面料。他的目標是找到一種新的面 料，並將其轉變為像Gore-Tex透氣防水面料那樣家喻戶曉的品牌。
另一家企業，力麗集團(Lealea Group)也在採取相似的措施，建立自己的服裝品牌。這家公司是全球主要的尼龍供應商。力麗集團花費一年時間，為FN Ice服裝品牌的新產品線設計了大約150件產品，並於9月在台北開設了這個品牌的第一家門店。
FN Ice創意總監陳慧芳(Zoe Chen)說，台灣可能最終會失去技術優勢，到那時，“獲取附加價值的唯一方法，就是通過推廣品牌和生活方式。”
她說，紡織產業需要不斷地適應惡劣的現實，總會有一個國家能夠以極為低廉的價格生產出你正在製造的東西。
“大陸人很聰明，”她評價大陸企業說，“他們會追趕上來，所以我一直在思考新的方法來提升這種面料，使它不只是面料而已。”

翻譯：王童鶴、陳柳

Textile Makers in Taiwan Create a High-Tech Niche

By LIN YANG December 14, 2012

TAIPEI — Jason Chen knows what it feels like for globalization to threaten his family business.
In 1992, he went to mainland 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.

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 take matters into his own hands, and he founded Singtex Industrial to focus on developing higher-value, waterproof synthetic cloth.
“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.”
Singtex’s story parallels the transformation of the textile industry in Taiwan over the last two decades. Once the main pillar of Taiwan’s economic development, textiles have given way to high-technology gadgets and components. Fabric mills and garment factories moved offshore during the last 20 years to focus on lower costs and higher volumes.
Yet the industry has re-emerged over the past 15 years, with companies spinning out a plethora of high-technology fabrics that are being snapped up by European and North American brands. Those materials are used in products like ski jackets, sports jerseys, outdoor furniture and firefighters’ protective gear.
“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.
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.
Singtex owns 34 patents, including one for S.Cafe, a polyester cloth with coffee grounds mixed into it. The coffee grounds, recycled from local 7-Eleven convenience stores and Starbucks cafes, absorb odors, giving the fabric added value for athletic clothing. Singtex counts the Timberland and Hugo Boss brands as its customers, and has even landed a deal to supply fabric for the Liverpool soccer club’s uniforms.
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. Mills that did not do research and development, or have the ability to invest in innovation, could not compete and went out of business.
There were 7,752 textile companies in 1997, but by 2010, only 4,299 were left, according to the textile institute’s data.
“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. “It really turned the notion that textiles was a low-tech industry on its head.”
This 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.
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.
Tina Wang, Hyperbola’s founder, said that although her clients made smaller orders in Taiwan than they would in China, they needed fabrics that could withstand harsh weather conditions and demanding environments, which Chinese mills often lack the technology to produce.
In 2011, Ms. Wang’s company and its partner mills produced 350 types of fabrics to satisfy that demand.
“We chose to stay here because we saw that Taiwan still had very innovative mills,” she said. “But their marketing was very weak. We provide the design and marketing platform so that they can grab a share of the global market.”
Nimble companies like Singtex and Hyperbola have powered the textile sector’s resurrection. Exports for the entire industry, at $12.7 billion in 2011, have climbed to 24 percent below the 1997 peak. But another measure of value, the unit price of fabrics, has risen by 41 percent since 1999 to $5.20 per kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, an indication that the industry has shifted to higher-value products.
For those who made the shift to more expensive cloth, profits have surged. Singtex’s revenue increased by 35 percent in 2011 from 2010 and its gross margin — sales revenue minus the cost of the goods — rose to more than 25 percent in 2011, according to Mr. Chen of Singtex. He plans to take his company public in 2013, and declined to disclose more figures.
Ms. Wang also declined to disclose Hyperbola’s financial performance, but said, “Let’s just say, it’s way better than most of Taiwan’s tech companies.”
Yet the good times might have a short shelf life. Chinese textile mills are learning and adopting production technologies that were first brought to the mainland by investors from Taiwan. Ms. Chen, the economist, estimated that China was 5 to 10 years behind Taiwan technologically, which keeps the pressure on companies in Taiwan to keep innovating.
“Our companies took a few pages to the mainland, but they avoided bringing the whole manual,” Ms. Chen said. “Technologies like ultrathin, waterproof, breathable fabrics, we still own. In the future, we may need to build spacesuits to stay ahead.”
Peter Huang, the chairman of Kingwhale Industries, a thermal fleece supplier, said his clients came to his company only after failing to find mainland factories that could meet their needs.
“They literally see our product, tell us it’s nice, then fly to Shanghai or Guangzhou with our sample the next day,” Mr. Huang said. “Then we get an awkward request from a Chinese factory asking us to teach them how to set up the production process.”
Kingwhale is looking to become partners with American fabric labs to keep its edge. Mr. Huang is planning a trip to North Carolina State University this month to buy a patent, and will also check on the price of land nearby for a possible factory to supply fabric directly to the U.S. market. He aims to find a new fabric and turn it into a brand that can be as recognizable as Gore-Tex, the breathable, waterproof fabric.
Another company, Lealea Group, is taking a similar approach by building its own clothing brand. The company, a major global nylon supplier, spent a year designing about 150 pieces for a new clothing line called FN Ice and opened its first store in Taipei in September.
FN Ice’s creative director, Zoe Chen, said Taiwan would eventually lose its technological edge, and when that happens, the “only way to add value will be through promoting brands and lifestyle.”
She said the textile industry constantly had to adapt to the harsh reality that there would always be a country that could make what you were making at a fraction of the price.
“The Chinese are smart,” she said of the mainland companies. “They will catch up. So I’m always thinking of new ways to push this fabric forward to become something more.”