Demonstrating Strength of National Face Mask Team,
TIMTOS 2021 Registration Begins Late May 2020

    Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has severely impacted the global community and economy, with all countries implementing measures to slow and stop the pandemic. Taiwan’s efforts, including its border control and restriction of mask exports from the beginning, the launch of its world-renowned ‘real-name mask rationing system’ and its creation of a Face Mask Map app based on big data, have won high praise from global public health experts, many of whom have claimed to learn much from Taiwan.
   
    Not only have the central and local governments and frontline pandemic prevention and medical personnel been working day and night, but Taiwan’s machinery industry has played a key role in forming the ‘national face mask team’ and contributing its expertise. Setting aside competition to earnestly work together, the national team formed by the machine tool builders has fully capitalized on their advantage of a rapid response.

They first adjusted and calibrated all production lines to provide enough spare parts. Then, after the face mask-making machines were delivered, the team tuned, debugged and test ran all machines until the supply of face masks was stable. With a concerted effort, the task force made the impossible possible; within one month it set up 60 production lines, a feat which would normally take four to six months to complete.

Their efforts have not only enabled Taiwan to reach our goal of producing 10 million masks per day, but have also turned Taiwan into the world’s second largest face mask producing country, enabling it to export face masks in the future and enhance its contribution to the international pandemic response.

Taiwan's high level of administrative efficiency, pandemic prevention experience, and medical and R&D standards have been receiving much attention from international media, ensuring Taiwan will play an important role in future public health issues. Meanwhile, the key role played by the ‘national face mask team’ has demonstrated to the world the strength and flexibility of Taiwan's machine tool industry, stirring up quite a sensation in advance of the Taipei International Machine Tool Show (TIMTOS), which will be held in March 2021.
 

 

 

 

 

    In 2019, the export value of Taiwan's machine tool industry was US$3.064 billion, ranking fifth in the world behind Germany, Japan, China and Italy. Although the COVID-19 outbreak, a black swan event, has hit the global economy hard, the complete supply chain of Taiwan’s machinery industry has helped to effectively mitigate the impact on Taiwan. It is therefore expected that Taiwan’s machinery industry has a promising prospect of reaching an output value of many trillions in the Industry 4.0 era, if Taiwan integrates the existing advantages of telecommunications with smart machinery and smart manufacturing.

    The biennial TIMTOS will open its grand doors from March 15-20, 2021 across three exhibition halls - Hall 1 and Hall 2 of Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center and TWTC Hall 1. The last show in 2019 housed a total of 1,230 exhibitors in 7,000 booths, attracting 7,511 foreign buyers. It is expected that TIMTOS 2021 will extend the fruitful achievements of the previous show and reach a new peak, ensuring its position as the world’s third largest machine tool trade show.

It is also expected that the machine tool enterprises involved in assembling the mask production lines will showcase their key high-precision components, smart machinery and production lines, and smart manufacturing solutions. The organizers will also hold a TIMTOS Summit where industry experts and top business leaders specializing in Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing will be invited to analyze industry and market trends. Registration for TIMTOS 2021 is planned to begin in late May 2020 and will be closed before the deadline if booths are filled. For more information, please visit www.timtos.com.tw.