Taiwan’s Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) recently announced a plan to help Taiwan’s machine tool industry with developing intelligent design and manufacturing to increase the industry’s revenue to NT$255 billion (US$8.5 billion) by 2020.

The bureau’s plan includes using information-communication technology (ICT) and addressing user need in product development, as well as cover turnkey planning service for customers to build sales.

The bureau indicated that last year the machine tool industry had total revenue of US$92.7 billion worldwide and Taiwan was the No. 4 exporter, after only Japan, Germany and Italy, and that mid-priced machines with value-added designs have potential in developing markets.

The bureau’s director general, R.J. Shen, said the government outs around NT$3 billion (US$100 million) into machine tool technology programs every year.

In 2011, Taiwan’s machine-tool industry generated revenue of NT$155 billion (US$5.1 billion), with sale service accounting for a meager 3%. The bureau plans to help boost the industry’s revenue to NT$255 billion, and sale service to around 20% of the total, with intelligent machines to comprise 30% of total output by 2020. Also, the bureau pledges to help 100 manufacturers install ICT, 20 manufacturers install application-technology center and 20 manufacturers service platform.

In response to suggestion by Fair Friend Ent. Group President Jimmy Chu that the government should vigorously help and subsidize the island’s machine-tool makers in overseas acquisitions as is done by China for its own makers, Shen stressed the industrial differences between Taiwan and China.

IDB officials pointed out that most of the island’s 1,435 machine-tool makers are spread across the Taichung area, making up a perfect industry cluster of upstream, mid-stream and downstream manufacturing.