"Designed" in Taiwan

Design Management Journal, Spring 2003 by Henderson, Scott

Once the venue for global manufacturing, recent investments in education, technology, research, economic development, and international promotion are transforming countries such as Malaysia, China, India, and Taiwan into places executives turn to for design innovation. Scott Henderson describes this Asian Renaissance and suggests that it presents a challenge, as well as an opportunity, for Western design firms.

During the Renaissance, an emerging middle class began to question conventional thinking, in part because information had become very accessible as a result of technologies such as the printing press. Individual achievement, entrepreneurship, scientific inquiry, and new wealth set the stage for the Renaissance to match and even surpass the achievements of classical Greece and ancient Rome.

Bearing this in mind, you might want to ask yourself a few questions. For instance: Where in our world is the vast majority of manufacturing taking place? Where has the Internet played a major role in the proliferation of a global design aesthetic? Where have entrepreneurship and new wealth created the fastest-growing and second-largest economy in the world over the shortest period of time? If you had to take a stab at which region in the world will dominate design in the future, what would your guess be? Welcome to Asia. Welcome to design's new Renaissance!

It is no secret that countries like Taiwan, South Korea, the People's Republic of China, and Thailand seem to be following similar paths to that of Japan in the evolution of their manufacturing and in its relation to their economies. What many people may not be as familiar with is the notion that design in Asia is undergoing a surge of interest that seems to be gathering steam. Design in Asia is being incorporated into the product-development process at the factory itself, and large foreign corporations are funneling work to the Far East to shorten product development timelines and increase efficiency. In many cases, design services are being rolled into development costs right along with the tooling, a trend of which the consultant designer should be well aware. Do these trends represent a threat to the design industry as we know it, or are they incredible new opportunities for collaboration?

If you want to go shopping, you go to the mall!

Have you ever noticed that the location of certain businesses is strategically decided based on the fact that the chosen site will contribute to increased profitability and efficiency? In a shopping mall, for instance, you will find diverse businesses ranging from clothing to housewares, and you'll also find clusters of businesses that support these retailers-purveyors of fast food, say. Competing businesses operate in harmony with one another because together they generate greater efficiencies. Bicycle stores are often located near the park and bail bondsmen near the county jail, so why don't you find designers and engineers near the factories? Well, in Asia, you do.

Probably the most profound examples of the proliferation of design in Asia are taking place in Taiwan. The Taiwanese government has been supporting a plan to set up large design centers on the island. According to the Taiwan Economic News, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has been promoting a plan to persuade multinational corporations to set up "innovation R&D centers."1

The China Post reports that Microsoft Corporation has decided to establish an Asia-Pacific technical service center in Taiwan and will "beef up cooperation with Taiwan enterprises in both hardware and software products."2 Hewlett-Packard also has plans to build and run a product design center in Taiwan, which "...will help Taiwan's IT industry to upgrade and focus its major strength on R&D rather than its current [OEM] production."3 The new center will complement HP's existing Asia Low-Cost Design Center, thus taking advantage of the island's strengths in product design and research and development. These centers allow HP to involve the local OEMs at a much earlier stage, and to compress the product-development timelines dramatically.

Other giant offshore corporations are following suit. Motorola (also according to the China Post) has announced plans to build an Asia Manufacturing Research Center in Beijing. Dell Computer established a research and development center on the island earlier this year, primarily for its laptop computer line. Dell's center now has more than 50 research and development personnel, and product development time has been reduced by at least a month. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has also approved plans for an IBM technology center, a Taiwanrun Mobile Commerce Research and Development Center, and an Advanced Mixed-Mode Signal Integrated Circuit Development Center for Pericom. In addition, a second Dell product development center is under way and an R&D headquarters for Sony IT products is currently undergoing review. Officials expect 70 such establishments to appear in Taiwan within the next four years, and it is likely that at least 70 percent of their staffing needs will be filled by local personnel.4