April 21, 2016, Taipei, Taiwan – The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) today announced the ten winners of the Taiwan Excellence Gold Award at a ceremony in Taipei. The 24th annual awards departed from past years with companies in industries such as precision machinery garnering high praise for achievements in design and marketing, areas traditionally reserved for consumer brands.
A panel of international judges with expertise in the four evaluation criteria – R&D, Design, Quality, and Marketing – selected the 10 winners of the Taiwan Excellence Gold Award. Judges select the winners based on the products’ ability to demonstrate innovation and value creation in all major categories.
Industrial brands emerge as leaders in design and marketing
One of the key trends among this year’s awards was industrial brands moving beyond a focus on R&D to putting increased emphasis on dimensions such as design and marketing.
The judges praised gold-winning solutions such as the Helix robot from Hiwin Mikrosystem Corp. and the Heavy Duty High Speed 5-Axis Gantry Type Simultaneous Machining Center from Buffalo Machinery Co. for their design. Associate Partner and Design Director at IDEO, USA and 2016 Design Judge Thomas Overthun was especially impressed by Helix, saying the product gave “…attention to the aesthetic dimension which is not common in other industrial products.”
At the same time, Overthun lauded Taiwan Excellence brands such as ASUS, which received gold awards for its Zenfone 2 Deluxe and Gaming Display, for transforming itself into a “design-led” company. He also called attention to the Taiwan bicycle industry’s “top notch” worldwide status and the extraordinary fineness and detail present in gold-winning products such as the GIANT TCR Advanced SL.
The Heartway Brio power scooter was also a favorite for its innovative folding design, which affords a wide range of mobility outside the home to those with disabilities.
Additionally, the judges took note of efforts like brands to refine their market selection to target niche segments. Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Marketing Judge David Reibstein said he admired Hiwin for what he called a “very systematic market approach”, describing how the company looked at subgroups and their specific needs in different markets and then designed a product “from the outside in”.
“The Taiwan Excellence program is great for encouraging innovation and quality,” said Reibstein. “The process itself is very comprehensive and looks at products from multiple perspectives. Ultimately, the market will decide what’s truly excellent. But there’s no question in my mind that the ones that have risen to the top here will serve Taiwan very well and help to build [the country’s] brand.”
Trends in industry 4.0 and quality management allow Taiwan brands to offer end users a truly customized, high-end product
Another advantage that judges were keen to point out was Taiwan’s industry being founded on small and medium sized industries (SMEs), which made the island uniquely poised to benefit from the global movement towards “Industry 4.0”.
Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and R&D Judge Mr. Steven Y. Liang noted that these SMEs support horizontal collaboration and “digital threading” very effectively. He particularly called out Shieh Yih Machinery Industry Co.’s gold award-winning Straight Side Mechanical Press for its “very broad range of application across many fields.”
Professor of mechanical engineering at National Cheng Kung University and R&D Judge Chao-King Chen also noted that leveraging client data made it possible for Taiwan companies to develop products specifically tailored to customer needs.
In terms of quality, Prof. Seijiro Oshimura, Managing Director of the Management Research Institute in Tokyo and Taiwan Excellence quality judge added that it’s only because of implementing Total Quality Management in its manufacturing that “brands like Hiwin can enter Toyota’s supply chain.”
![taiwan-excellence[1]](http://taiwanglobalization.pioneerz.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/taiwan-excellence1.jpg)
Taiwan Excellence Gold Award Winners
| Product | Model No. | Company |
| 3D-350 | AS35-69T | AEON MOTOR CO., LTD. |
| Zenfone 2 Deluxe | ZE551ML | ASUSTeK Computer Inc. |
| Gaming Display | PG348Q | ASUSTeK Computer Inc. |
| Heavy Duty High Speed 5-Axis Gantry Type Simultaneuous Machining Center | MCG-5X | Buffalo Machinery Co Ltd |
| PowerDirector 14 | PowerDirector 14 Ultimate | CyberLink Corp. |
| TCR Advanced SL | TCR Advanced SL | Giant Manufacturing Co., Ltd. |
| Brio | S19P | HEARTWAY MEDICAL PRODUCTS CO., LTD. |
| HELIX | HELIX | HIWIN MIKROSYSTEM CORP. |
| 88 feet luxury motoryacht | Horizon E88 | Horizon Yacht Co., Ltd. |
| Ninety Six | Ninety Six Team/9000/7000/XT/6000/800/600 | MERIDA Industry Co., Ltd. |
Taiwan Excellence Silver Award Winners
| Product | Model No. | Company |
| Portable All-in-One PC | Aspire Z3-700 | Acer Incorporate |
| Revo Build Mini Block PC | Revo Build M1-601 | Acer Incorporate |
| TREK-773 3rd Generation All-In-One Mobile Data Terminal | TREK-773 | Advantech Co., Ltd. |
| Wireless-AC5300 Tri-band Gigabit Router | RT-AC5300 | ASUSTeK Computer Inc. |
| Full HD video conferencing solution | AVer EVC950 | AVer Information Inc. |
| SPECTRA color ePaper display | Red | E Ink Holdings Inc. |
| EdiLife Smart Home Solution | BR-6478AC V2/EW-7438RPn Air/EW-7438RPn Mini/EW-7438AC/SP-2110W/SP-2101W/IC-3140W/IC-7113W/IC-9110W/IC-5150W | Edimax Technology Co., Ltd |
| RECOFFEE Tree in the Bottle Shampoo | 11101012A01A /11101013A02A | Hair O’right International Corp. |
| Delta Robot | RD4D5 / RD401 / RD403 / RK401 | HIWIN TECHNOLOGIES CORP. |
| Matrix In-Trinity | In-Trinity | Johnson Health Tech. Co., Ltd. |
| Scultura Superlite series | Scultura 9000 | MERIDA Industry Co., Ltd. |
| Fas Wernch II | RW Series | PROXENE TOOLS Co., Ltd. |
| Straight Side Mechanical Press(Link Motion) | SLG-300 / SLG-400 / SLG500 / SLG-600 / SLG-800 / SLG-1000 / SLG-1200 / SLG4-400 / SLG4-500 / SL4G-600 / SLG4-800 / SLG4-1000 / SLG4-1200 | SHIEH YIH MACHINERY INDUSTRY CO., LTD. |
| LED Lighting Ventilation Fan | BVT21A010Y /BVT21A010W / BVE120A005Y /BVE120A005W /BVC21A003Y/ BVC21A003W | Sunonwealth Electric Machine Industry Co., Ltd. |
| DC motor perimeter aspiration range hood | DR7790SXL | TAIWAN SAKURA Corporation |
| Multi-functional Cooker | TAC-06EA(WI)/TAC-11EA(WI) | TATUNG CO. |
| Multi-functional Cooker | TAC-03DS/TAC-03DI | TATUNG CO. |
| TTRobotix Seawolf | CHROME iReceiver / Deepsea Challenger | THUNDER TIGER Corp. |
| PBF Additive Manufacturing Equipment | AM250 | Tongtai Machine & Tool Co., Ltd. |
| Micro Track Light KIT | SA-501H KIT | Tons Lightology Inc. |