In the early days of 1978, our business operations in Taichung began by renting a business site in Taiping Township. Initially, we partnered with another company in the same industry; after receiving orders, we would have them produce the goods. A year later, the partner found the profit margins too low and withdrew. LT then asked Zeng Yongcun for help to take over and set up a factory in Dali Township. After renting for 10 years and relocating three times, the idea of purchasing land to build a factory emerged, seeking a place for long-term use. Consequently, in 1988, three years after the completion of the Linkou factory, we acquired land on Gong 16th Road in the first phase of Taichung Industrial Park, at a price of over 7,000 NTD per ping. The Taichung factory was officially established in 1990.
In early 2000, the company secured orders for LCD manufacturing, planning to assemble them at the Taichung factory. However, the space at the Gong 16th Road plant was clearly insufficient. After extensive search and evaluation through various channels, we decided to purchase a factory on Gong 10th Road. The LCD manufacturing assembly line was successfully moved in by early September of the same year, and other production lines were relocated by the end of the year. The facility underwent renovations and was officially put into use in 2001. Since the factory was originally used for producing bicycle parts, its layout did not meet our needs, particularly due to the high height requirements for TFT/LCD products. Therefore, in 2006, we participated in the land selection process for the “Taichung Precision Machinery Technology Innovation Park” and successfully obtained 4,500 pings of land, passing a qualification selection rate of only 40%.
After acquiring the land in 2007, Taiwan was impacted by the global financial crisis the following year. Despite multiple evaluations and adjustments, we initiated the construction of a new plant in 2011. This period coincided with the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, causing a surge in raw material prices like steel and copper wire. Thanks to the support from the management team and the efforts of a professional team (including Director Lin Qingwan, Project Manager Zhao Shande, and Administrative Section Chief Li Zhaode in Taichung), as well as the construction supervisors and contractors, we overcame these challenges and built a carbon-reducing, energy-efficient green building. The new plant featured natural light through skylights, a rooftop garden, a water-cooled air conditioning system, solar panel power generation systems, and water heaters. Additionally, energy-saving lamps were used throughout the office areas, and LED lighting, saving over 60% energy and 100,000 kWh annually, was implemented in the production areas. The new Taichung plant was officially opened in May 2012.
