| dc.description.abstract | Carbon fiber is a specific material with high strength and low density. It is appraised as a material of future. The market of carbon fiber is dominated by a few manufacturers, mainly from Japan. Manufacturing technology of those Japanese manufacturers is 30 years ahead of their international competitors. Barriers to enter this market are high. It is critical for Taiwanese companies to jump onto the bandwagon in the next 5 to 10 years. Since 2008, demands for this critical material have risen significantly due to the demands from such industries as aerospace, automotive, wind energy, gas energy, and sport. Taiwanese firms will need technological breakthroughs in order to manufacture high-grade carbon fiber with a competitive cost.
This study shows how UHT unitech, a spinoff from ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute), commercializes its carbon fiber technology, from the development of ideas to mass production. UHT unitech specializes in high-grade carbon fiber. In the early days, the company was obviously lack of expertise in factory management, production management and project management.
UHT develops its own pilot production guidelines based on the guidelines developed by IBM and Department of Defense of the United States. Following IBM, UHT differentiates its new product development into four stages: MC0 (exploration technology validation), MC1 (product development) for the field of materials chemistry, MC2 (trial production stage) and MC2 (mass production stage). Guidelines from the Department of Defense of US, on the other hand, divide new product development into two stages: the development test (Development test and evaluation, DT & E) and operational testing (Operational test and evaluation, OT & E).
Findings of the study are summarized as follows:
1. The guidelines UHT developed benefits new product development. The guidelines facilitate evaluation of new ideas, monitoring of the progress, identification of critical issues, preparation of for pilot/mass production, product specification adjustment, suppliers management, and employee training. Overall, the guidelines significantly reduce the risk of introducing innovative technology into pilot production.
2. After the pilot production stage, the use of test development and operation of test assessment criteria helps verify system stability, production reliability, product features, cost estimates, financial analysis, which, in turn, benefit the formulation of the company′s overall marketing strategy, pricing strategy, and marketing strategy. | en_US |