The methodology details the collection of primary and secondary data for the automobile component and assembly, electronics, and integrated circuit (IC) design industry sectors. The flowchart of this research is shown on figure 3.1. First target industry is the automobile component and assembly industry the primary data resulted from an interview with The Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers Chief in Taipei. Following the interview, letters were sent to 195 large automobile parts manufacturers, located in different counties of Taiwan, requesting a catalog for research purposes. The data from the catalogs were coded and entered into a database.
Web-sites were studied and coded for content. There were 102 paper-based catalogs received and 39 companies published on-line catalogs. Given the limitation on the number of companies with websites, the analysis between catalog types was based on a sample of 39 companies that had paper catalogs as well as website catalogs.
Secondary data from the Directorate General of Customs Data were retrieved in order to define the way that the Directorate General of Customs (DGOC, 2001) classifies vehicle parts for customs processing. The authors also used Internet search engines (Yam and Google) to identify the 20 leading Automotive Associations in Taiwan.
After collecting association names and addresses, phone calls and visits were made to associations to complete the Taiwan list of related automobile and motorcycle associations. The authors visited Mr. Huang, Chief of Business Affairs Section at the Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers Association, for in-depth case data and addresses. The ITIS database (www.itis.org.tw) provided company names as well as import and export trend statistics for the research. To summarize trends in the industry, we collected data related to the profile and structure of Taiwan Automobile Component and Assembly Industry, including major component parts, total production values, the amount of export and import and the sales. The Corporate Synergy Factory System (C-S system), founded through the support of The Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economy Affairs (MOEA), was studied. Since characteristics of companies will be influenced by the capital and number of employees these are the two factors that are used to create size classification rules.
Small, medium and large-scale companies were grouped according to the rules to discuss the relationship among the groups. Four common product classification systems, the Taiwan Customs Classification System, The TTVMA Classification System, The Yu-Long Automobile Classification System and the Trade Show Classification System were studied. In addition, this research evaluated the sample of 39 companies’ e-catalogs as compared to their paper catalogs in terms of the differences in the number of categories, Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), brand names,
groups on the catalog. There are many similar products that are put together in the same category, each one of them represents a type of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs).
The figure or picture of the product is defined to be the illustrations in this research.
Brandname of product also can be found on the catalog of different companies.
Finally, the conclusion and recommendations were drawn based on the data and analysis.
Secondly, for the electronics industry research required the collection of primary and secondary data from members of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronics Manufacturing Association (TEEMA). The primary data sources included recorded dialogues from two research managers in the Electronic Component Department, the Industrial Technology Research Institute, and the Executive Director of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association. The secondary data sources consisted of company catalogs, government statistics, association lists, and other sources of published data. The company research database was built by abstracting data, according to a code sheet, from the catalogs provided by 205 computer and peripheral parts manufacturers in Taiwan. First, letters were sent to each company requesting a catalog for research purposes. Then, the catalogs were analyzed, coded and data recorded in a database. Web sites were also analyzed and coded for content.
A complete list of the website URLs was derived from the paper catalogs and association member list. Product descriptions for notebooks, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and electrical computer cables are studied. Internet search engines were used to find various product classification systems. Using the product classification systems as a basis for comparison, the differences between systems used in Taiwan and in foreign countries are evaluated from the perspective of building better Internet-based catalogs. After the differences between various product-classified systems were identified, a sample of product descriptions was generated for illustration and for discussion. Using the distribution analysis and classification method, we derived partitioning rules using the capital and employees data to create a new set of small, medium, and large size companies (Table 1). For example, company is classified as a small enterprise if its capital less than NT$ 20 million and the number of employees is less than 30. If a firm satisfies one partitioning criteria, but not another, then it is omitted. Only clearly partitioned data that satisfy both criteria on employees and capital are allowed into the subset. Since the combined classification fairly describes three distinct groupings by two commonly reported parameters, it is used for comparing companies and describing the differences between products and catalogs across company size. All the paper catalog and e-catalog were also collected and compared the category, SKUs, illustrations, and brandname in electronics industry.
The automobile industry is so called a traditional industry, and the electronics industry represents the new developed high-tech industry in Taiwan. Both of their catalogs promote the tangible product. Thirdly, this research study the IC design industry because of their high value-added property and their intangible product. The primary data and secondary data were collected by the way of interview, collecting paper catalogs and study the websites of the IC design house. The list of IC design companies was provided by Terry Chen, research manager of IC department industrial economics and knowledge center Inustrial Technology Research Institute (IEK ITRI).
The address of websites were clearly shown on the list (Appendix K). Paper catalogs were collected by the help of Dior Chen, Manager of Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA), Jack Sheu manager of open-lab service department ITRI, Kenny Wang manager of IC facility agent, and Mr. Lee director of Taiwan Hsin Chu Science Park Association. After compared the product categories, SKUs, brandname, and illustrations by the collected paper catalogs and websites, some stastics and t-test were executed. Field review were done to get more information about the perpespective of the supplier Ping Huan senior specialist of customer service department Sunplus, Dennis Liu public relationship manager of Elan, and Mr. Jian a researcher of IC design industry at IEK ITRI, then compared the three industries to formulate a model of product promotion by the use of catalog.
In conclusion, this dissertation tries to stdudy the use of e-catalogs by Taiwan industry. Three Taiwan great global impact industries were chosen in this research.
This research have done three studies in sequence. The first target of this dissertation is automobile component and assembly industry. The second is electronics industry, and the third is IC design industry. We use hypothesis testing to analysis the result of the three studies in comparing the paper catalog versus e-catalogs. Finally, the research compare the e-catalogs between automobile component and assembly industry, electronics industry, and IC design industry. ANOVA seems to be a good method to analysis the results of this study. All the analysis will be shown in section 7.4.
3.1 Standard Descriptions and Taxonomy of Taiwan Automobile Part Product There are often numerous product descriptions for a single part or component produced by Taiwan manufacturers. For a buyer, this creates difficulties since in order to find the product requires mapping English terms from the Taiwan industry part classification to other classification systems such as the US Census Bureau Harmonized System (HS code), the UNSPSC Code, or other standard product classifications. Four common classifications, such as Taiwan Customs Classification System, The Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers Association (TTVMA)
Classification system, The Yu Long Automobile Company Classification System and The Trade Show Classification System are described below to highlight the advantages and disadvantages that exist between different part classification systems.
The Directorate General of Customs and the Board of Foreign Trade publish a comprehensive classification system called The Customs Import Tariff and Classification of Import and Export Commodities of the Republic of China. This classification system provides manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors an extensive list of parts descriptions, tariff fees, and import restrictions. Other related information for auto part classification can be obtained from the Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers Association, the Yu Long Automobile Company, and from the trade show catalogs produced by CETRA and the Taipei World Trade Center (2002 Taipei International Auto and Motorcycle Parts and Accessories Show). The classification system for trade shows is referred to as the Taipei Auto and Motorcycle Parts and Accessories (TAMPA) Code.
Taiwan Customs Classification System has a few disadvantages. First, The Directorate General of Customs struggles to keep up with classifying new products and particularly classifying products and parts that are technical innovations. New products tend to be placed into broad existing categories and new categories are slowly created. The degree of correspondence with the HS Code system is not known but discrepancies between the two systems do exist. As well as, a search engine allows users to find the appropriate code number given a part description. An advantage of the system is that the Industrial Technology Intelligence Services has automated the Taiwan customs classification system and provides on-line access.
Furthermore, the Taiwan system provides a good standard list of English and Chinese part descriptions related to the HS Code and the UNSPSC.
The TTVMA Classification system is non-automated and is derived from member self-reports of parts and components produced at their factories. The major classifications are for automobiles (308 categories), bicycles (91 categories), motorcycles (161 categories), and railroad vehicles (4 categories). However, there is no method for identifying and classifying single part stock keeping unit (SKU). We found the computerized database of members and their information is updated yearly and that the system likewise provides a good standard list of English and Chinese part descriptions related to the way manufacturers classify their production activities.
The Yu-Long Automobile Company Classification System is one of the most accurate and complete automotive parts classification systems used in Taiwan. The system offers a comprehensive means to classify parts as stock keeping units for inventory control. The system utilizes a column and row system with four major part divisions including engine parts, electrical parts, chassis parts, and body parts. Each
major division has a sub-division (xxx level) and each sub-division has an even finer layer (xxxxx level). This system is one of the most complete standard lists of English and Chinese part descriptions that can be used to describe automotive part SKUs.
The Trade Show Classification System is used to place manufacturer exhibits and sales booths into a logical presentation order. Buyers from all over the world use the system to locate manufacturers exhibiting products. The system has a long history being used for mapping of categories to the floor plan of the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall. The shortcoming of the system is the incomplete and non-standard list of English and Chinese part descriptions.
3.2 Standard and Product Taxonomy for Electronic Product
Product descriptions for notebooks, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and electrical computer cables are targeted to the study. Taiwan’s related information about product classifications from the websites of CETRA and the Directorate General of Customs (DGOC) are analyzed. The official classifications include the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), the Classification of Commodities of the R.O.C (CCC Code), the Industrial Code, and the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC). For widely used international product classifications, the United Nations Standard Products and Services Codes (UNSPSC), the Central Product Classification Version 1.0 (CPC V1.0) and the Standard Industrial Trade Classification (SITC) are compared and studied.
The Taiwan government currently uses the HS Code system and the CCC Code system for customs import and exports tariff and classification of import and export commodities. The classifications for the three target products are not precise since these two systems are fully not consistent. Further, these two classifications do not code electrical computer cables under a product category that is easy for users to relate to. Taiwan industries use the ISIC Code and the Industrial Code as well. The ISIC Code and the Industrial Code are better for classifying the three target products than the HS Code and the CCC Code. However, the product descriptions in the ISIC Code system and the Industrial Code system are controversial. Within these two systems, there are two descriptions for notebooks. The Industrial Code system gives two descriptions to PDAs, and there’s only one description for PDAs in the ISIC Code system that differs from the popular one used in the marketplace. Except for UNSPSC, the international classifications, such as CPC, and SITC, are not much better for classifying the target products. Among these classifications, UNSPSC specifically classifies the target products the best since it gives only one description for each product. In addition, the product descriptions match the current ones used in the marketplace.
The US Census Bureau Harmonized System (HS Code), the Customs Cooperation Council Code (CCC Code), the Industrial Code, the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), the UNSPSC system, the Computex Taipei 2001 standard, and the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association standard are very important for electronic product classification. A good e-catalog system will enable buyers to search and find products no matter which classification system they are using. Also, they will be able to search and find products using keyword descriptions in Chinese or in English.
Fig 3.1 — Flowchart of research Literature Review
Primary Data:
Web sites Interview Phone calls
Request for paper catalogs
Secondary Data:
Government statistics Association list Published data ITIS database Data Collection
Result and Analysis Paper catalogs vs. electronic catalogs
Automobile Industry Electronics Industry IC Design Industry
Comparison inside and cross industry
Conclusion and Recommendations
4. The Profile and Structure of Taiwan Automobile Component and