TECO Forays Into India in Redeployment of Global Supply Chain
With the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war clouding the global market, TECO Electric & Machinery has been rearranging its global deployment rapidly to optimize its supply chain, shifting production for all orders from the U.S. to plants in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam, to uphold shipment and profit margin, in a continuous effort to materialize the corporate vision of "energy conservation, emission reduction, smart application, and automation" and create maximum benefits for shareholders.
As shown in its annual report, TECO scored substantial gains in orders and revenue in 2018, thanks to increased share of motors in domestic and Australian markets, and robust demands from electric and oil/gas industries in North America. TECO reports that the company also made significant achievement in cutting cost and boosting product competiveness via development of lightweight compact products last year. Non-operating revenue and profit contributed by affiliates in China, North America, and Australia grew further in 2018, boosting investment returns, recognized on the equity method, by NT$340 million. In general, the company's current net profit increased by 1.87% in 2018.
In 2019, to sustain revenue growth, TECO will focus on sales and deployment of core businesses, including IoT digital service for motors, including the provision of complete solution for vibration and temperature detection; expanded sales of frequency changers and electromechanical solutions; solicitation of engineering works related to electric equipment and system integration, as well as energy management for large machine room and domestic and overseas air-conditioning projects.
TECO notes that the company will step up effort in developing new sources of growth momentum, including green energy, such as traction power modules and electric bus, electric passenger car, and electric boat for both domestic and overseas markets; there has been steady shipment for electric bus and electric passenger cars. Another sector is intelligent automation, for which TECO debuted a service robot, the first Taiwan-made one, during the Smart City Show in Taiwan in March, causing a stir. Moreover, TECH's automated guided vehicle (AGV) boasts visual recognition, space positioning, precision traversing, barrier avoidance, map editing, and setup interface for car control. In collaboration with system integrators, the company will offer integrated custom AGV services, for meal delivery, guided tour, security and field inspection. In addition, in the future the company will extend AGV application to smart factory, taking advantage of IoT technology to develop smart electromechanical manufacturing solutions, to enhance the operating efficiency of plants.
Meanwhile, TECO will make inroads into the Asian market aggressively. It is scheduled to inaugurate a new motor plant in Becamex IDC industrial park in Vietnam's Binh Duong Province in July, which will be supported by the company's established sales network in Southeast Asia. Attracted by its huge potential, the company will also actively expand its presence in the Indian market, which it began to explore in 2008. It has planned to build a motor plant in Bangalore, India's third largest city, to tap the domestic market.