TAOYUAN CITY, TAIWAN – The Taiwan Printed Circuit Association today said four global trends will affect the printed circuit board industry in the next three years: the wrestling between global superpowers and its impact on the industrial infrastructure layout; the launching of 5G applications spawning an array of business opportunities; green sustainable productions enabling the implementation of a circular economy; and a weakened labor supply prompting the rise of automated AI.

"Recommendations on the development of the PCB industry in Taiwan" will serve as a guide for the sustainable operation of the PCB industry chain in Taiwan and invigorate the synergy among industries, governments, and academic and research institutes, said Li Changming, chairman of TPCA.

The issues of globalization are in the middle of a brewing storm and have tremendous impact on the industrial infrastructure layout, and to revolutionize the infrastructure layout, priority must be placed back on Taiwan, TPCA says. The global Covid-19 pandemic has unprecedented impact on regional production activities and tarnished the global economy on an extended scale. During this period, the problem of excessive concentration of global supply chains has surfaced. While the pace of globalization has slowed, Taiwan-invested enterprises and supply chains manufactured 63% of their products in mainland China. The reconsideration of flexibility should be one of their global strategies, TPCA says.

TPCA recommends the government implement specific incentives or subsidies to encourage investments in Taiwan. It would benefit the enterprise infrastructure layout if the government could assist enterprises in intellectualization; stipulate environmental protection policies in line with the PCB industry; stabilize the source of manpower; provide diversified investment conditions for the industry to balance the production capacity and ratio; diversify product structures throughout various regions; and establish independent supply mechanisms.

With the outbreak of Covid-19, the progress of 5G applications, including consumer brands and the entire electronic industry chain, has been severely affected.

Nonetheless, 5G is still the key kinetic energy to drive the growth of the industrial economy and plays a vital role in every country.

In Taiwan, 5G supply chains benefit from the layout experiences gained from 3G/4G. Various correlated suppliers also manufacture 5G components, such as chips from upstream industry, parts, modules, mobile handsets, etc.

However, with fierce 5G competition worldwide, TPCA recommends the government take the lead in integrating 5G development: for instance, the research and development of 5G materials and skill-based education.

The integrated force among industries, governments, and academic and research institutes through the government’s leadership will empower Taiwan PCB and electronic upstream and downstream supply chains.

Green productions and a circular economy have become global trends. International organizations, individual countries and enterprises have proposed an assorted development agenda for a circular economy. Compared with the past, enterprises and society pay more attention to the implementation and management of environmental, health and safety policy facilities. On the circular economy, numerous issues have yet to be dealt with, and it is anticipated industries will encounter an increased demand for a circular economy from governing bodies and customers in the years to come.

Meeting the requirements of environmental, health and safety policy has become one of the necessary survival conditions for enterprise sustainability. For the PCB industry, green production requires full engagement of the entire supply chain. In addition to improving the levels of environmental safety, health management and technology that will meet customer requirements, the PCB industry needs assistance from the government to develop a globally standardized mechanism and a verification platform, as well as training and education for green professionals, so the circular economy can be implemented.

The aging population is an inevitable issue, and its impact on labor force supply will surface. While TPCA embraces the arrival of AI, in addition to the evolving business opportunities of smart AI products, from the production’s perspectives, TPCA also anticipates enhanced results brought about by AI in reducing industrial risks and accidents, assisting in yield improvement, materials forecasting, process optimization and upscale technologies.

Implementation of AI in production plants requires the government’s pilot programs and leadership. Additionally, the retention of foreign-trained professionals, more flexible working hours and foreign labor policies will help the evolution in industry professionals and production innovations.

Since 2010, the PCB industry in Taiwan has been the world ’s number one in terms of value of output and production capacity, domestically and internationally, says the firm. Global trade competition, the pandemic, and the imminent 5G market will induce immense qualitative and quantitative modifications to the industry.

TPCA hopes all industries, governments, and academic and research institutes will join forces to face, accept and deal with these unstoppable global trends, so Taiwan can continue to maintain its competitiveness worldwide.

The total output value of the PCB industry chain in Taiwan increased 20.4% to NTD$964.3 billion between 2014 and 2019, TPCA says.

To identify the global trends above, TPCA consulted with Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center and gleaned ideas from specialists in Taiwan and research institutes.