產業新聞
Plastics industry should aim at medical: advocate
產業訊息2016-05-03
The plastics industry should aim to develop high-end polymer applications as a strategy to boost the nation’s global competitiveness, Plastics Industry Development Center (PIDC, 塑膠工業技術發展中心) president Hsiao Yao-kuei (蕭耀貴) said yesterday.
“About 70 to 80 percent of the plastic medical devices that are used in Taiwan’s hospitals are imported,” Hsiao said on the sidelines of an award ceremony in Taipei. “This phenomenon does not benefit the industry or the public.”
Medical devices can be classified into three types: for external use, invasive devices or indwelling devices.
Hsiao said that many Taiwanese firms are focused on producing devices for external use, such as sphygmomanometers, and end up slashing prices when selling their products abroad to survive.
The center last month began to construct a facility in Taichung aimed at developing polymers used in medical devices.
The move is aimed at helping the industry break into a medical field that has a relatively higher added value and entry barrier, he said.
In the longer term, the center hopes to assist local manufacturers in research and design for polymer materials applications, as well as to assist them in mass production, Hsiao said.
He said the center helped Body Organ Biomedical Corp (柏登生醫) lower its defect rate in the production of corneas for postoperative recovery, adding that the product is now sold in the US and Europe.
In addition, “foreign nations often impose rigorous regulations when it comes to higher-level medical devices or safety issues,” Hsiao said. “So we get in touch with their institutions and strive to verify our products domestically.”
He said plastic products such as vehicle bumpers and headlights that are sold in the US can now be authenticated by the Plastics Industry Development Center, which is beneficial to Taiwanese firms because that reduces their operational costs by 10 percent and accelerates the procedures they need to complete to sell their products abroad in about two months.
At the ceremony, former Plastics Industry Development Center president Michael Lin (林志清) received an award from Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) for his dedication to the nation’s plastics industry.
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“About 70 to 80 percent of the plastic medical devices that are used in Taiwan’s hospitals are imported,” Hsiao said on the sidelines of an award ceremony in Taipei. “This phenomenon does not benefit the industry or the public.”
Medical devices can be classified into three types: for external use, invasive devices or indwelling devices.
Hsiao said that many Taiwanese firms are focused on producing devices for external use, such as sphygmomanometers, and end up slashing prices when selling their products abroad to survive.
The center last month began to construct a facility in Taichung aimed at developing polymers used in medical devices.
The move is aimed at helping the industry break into a medical field that has a relatively higher added value and entry barrier, he said.
In the longer term, the center hopes to assist local manufacturers in research and design for polymer materials applications, as well as to assist them in mass production, Hsiao said.
He said the center helped Body Organ Biomedical Corp (柏登生醫) lower its defect rate in the production of corneas for postoperative recovery, adding that the product is now sold in the US and Europe.
In addition, “foreign nations often impose rigorous regulations when it comes to higher-level medical devices or safety issues,” Hsiao said. “So we get in touch with their institutions and strive to verify our products domestically.”
He said plastic products such as vehicle bumpers and headlights that are sold in the US can now be authenticated by the Plastics Industry Development Center, which is beneficial to Taiwanese firms because that reduces their operational costs by 10 percent and accelerates the procedures they need to complete to sell their products abroad in about two months.
At the ceremony, former Plastics Industry Development Center president Michael Lin (林志清) received an award from Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) for his dedication to the nation’s plastics industry.