SOCO Groundbreaking Ceremony for The New Laser R&D Center
Events 2020/08/19
Under the impact of the new Covid-19 epidemic, Taiwan's machinery industry output value in 2020 is generally declining and is expected to continue to shrink in 2019. Fearing the turbulent world situation, this year SOCO Machinery has increased its investment in research and development to build the largest R&D base for the production of domestic laser applications in the Nangang industrial zone.
The inauguration ceremony of the new plant was carried out by SOCO’s President Frank Lin, Nantou County Mayor Lin MingQin, and others to launch the project. About 150 people from the machinery industry, government, and academia attended the ceremony. Frank Lin stated that the laser application research and development center, which covers an area of 3,000 square meters, will push Taiwan's upstream and downstream industries to move forward. Frank Lin pointed out that as SOCO was the first to enter the laser cutting and equipment automation industry in Taiwan when domestic and overseas industries were still suffering from high labor costs. SOCO saw the customers' needs, accelerated the transformation of the enterprise, increased the added value of products, and also improved the competitiveness of customers.
The Taiwan industry counts many manufacturers competitive on a global scale. SOCO Machinery in Taichung Precision Machinery Park, for example, is a company with over 40 years of experience that produces metal circular saws and tube bending machines. In 2019, the group consolidated a turnover that exceeded NTD 1.5 billion while their production scale was among the top three in the world. SOCO's product development, from manual machines to automated connection systems, has now progressed to the point that the machine, fully automated, can calculate the best cutting method, optimize the production process, and be controlled remotely. These elements transformed SOCO – from a traditional tool factory – into an innovator of smart automation.
In addition to circular saws and tube benders, SOCO entered the optoelectronics sector as early as 2007 with investments in 3D fiber tube laser cutting machines. SOCO previously cooperated with a sheet and metal cutting machine company from Europe. This time SOCO invested NTD 1 billion to build a new factory in Nangang, enhancing the line of optoelectronic products. The new plant is expected to be completed and be operative within two years, creating more than 200 jobs. This is a very important indicator for the development of Taiwan's laser manufacturing industry.
