The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic from the beginning of the year has caused a significant impact on the industry. Liu, Yang-Wei, chairman of Foxconn, said yesterday that experts and scholars still have no consensus on when the epidemic will end. However, "it is believed the epidemic will, upon current situations, will be alleviated at the end of June and start of July." As for when consumer confidence for the future can be restored, it will also determine the degree of impact on the industry.

 

        The Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC) of Institute for Information Industry held a spring online seminar "Restoring Power" on June 1, presided by Director Zhan Wen-nan. Lee Shi-qin, the Chairman of Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturer's Association; Chan Chi-hong, the Chairman and CEO of Qisda; and Liu Yang-wei, were invited to the seminar for deliberations on the topic of "Destruction and Innovation Brought by COVID-19 Epidemic to Global Industry."

 

        Liu, Yang-Wei pointed out that Taiwanese companies must engage themselves in "Group Warfare" and think about combining talents with technology. Chan Chi-hong evaluated that "cost" will still be the most critical consideration in the supply chain, while Lee Shi-qin pointed out that 5G will be a crucial battle in the next decade. Besides, Liu, Yang-Wei said that the sign of globalization and the concentration of "world factories" in a few countries would come to a halt in the future. On the other hand, countries will later pay more attention to "regional production," and move towards regional manufacturing systems for development. Under the trend of digitalization and regionalization, Taiwanese enterprises must inevitably engage in "group warfare wars." Though the mindset in the past few decades was mainly focused on production, the next battlefield will then trigger various remote trends of relevance with the epidemic. As such, our enterprises should begin to consider talent integration with technology.

 

        However, Chan Chi-Hong pointed out that the globalized supply chain’s deliberation may not completely fade away in the short run. In view of such a scenario, it has become a critical issue to the success of the Taiwanese industry as to how they can form alliances and even enlarge platforms in the future so that resource utilization can be turned useful from repeated waste in the post-epidemic era.

 

        Lee, Shi-Qin indicated that the general trend of the global supply chain has remained unchanged as it gradually moves from mainland China to 14 low-cost countries. Nonetheless, in coping with the impact, more inventory and temporary adjustments will become more valuable and cost-effective than mere speeding up relocation. (News source: United Daily News)