Kanken Techno Co., Ltd., formerly Kansai Thermal Industry, was founded in Osaka in 1978. It has dedicated itself to developing professional environmental protection equipment for the high-tech industry for more than 40 years. A globally leading brand of exhaust gas treatment equipment, Kanken Techno has products that are widely used in industrial processes of the semiconductor industry, solar power plants, and the LCD industry. With more than 16,000 scrubbers sold worldwide, it has the second largest market share in the world, one reaching up to 20%.

Kanken Techno has been actively engaged in the Taiwan market for 20-plus years. It established the subsidiary Taiwan Kanken Techno Co., Ltd. in July 2008; it also has offices in Hsinchu, Taichung, and Tainan, in addition to three factories. For its continuous growth in the Taiwan market, it rearranged activation time of the equipment in its third factory and will do so to its first and second factories in Yongkang Industrial Park, so as to form a one-stop operation system; doing so will not only further improve production capacity and efficiency, but also allow the provision of services tailored to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry and solar energy industry in close proximity.

As Taiwan is a semiconductor manufacturing hub, Taiwan Kanken Techno has significant strategic importance in the Group

A vital global semiconductor industry cluster, Taiwan has a supply chain that is complete on the upstream, midstream, and downstream; information and technology can flow rapidly in the cluster, and even become ever-expanding as a result of critical mass, leading to prosperity in the semiconductor industry.

By focusing on local industry clusters, Taiwan Kanken Techno has become the leading exhaust gas treatment equipment brand in Taiwan, with a market share of nearly 50%. Matsumoto Kumi, Chief Operating Officer in Taiwan, said: “As of 2022, more than 7,000 sets of equipment have been sold in Taiwan, outstripping the sales of some 4,000 sets in Japan. In this respect, Taiwan has become Kanken Group’s base for global expansion, or, to put it another way, Kanken Techno has grown along with Taiwan’s semiconductor market.” This is evidence that the Taiwan base has strategic customer-oriented importance.

Continue expanding Taiwan operations to enhance local service capability

Kanken Group has bases in Japan, Taiwan, and China. Compared with the Japanese base that is positioned as an R&D base, the Taiwan base functions as a production base dedicated to mass producing exhaust gas thermal scrubbers for the semiconductor process. In addition, the launch of the third factory of Taiwan Kanken Techno has improved the Group’s overall productivity. On the other hand, given that most of the Group’s important business partners are in Taiwan, expanding its Taiwan base helps tailor its services to customer needs, grasp market trends at the first opportunity, and rapidly respond to volatile changes in the semiconductor industry; doing so also enables it to supply after-sale service parts or satisfy custom needs in a more agile manner, thereby adding value to its customer service capability. Moreover, the Taiwan base’s production capacity not only satisfies demand in Taiwan, it can also export for sale worldwide.

Work with Taiwanese suppliers to increase the Group’s supply chain resilience

Impact factors such as the China-US trade war and the pandemic are testing suppliers’ rapid response capabilities. In addition, with the emergence of the “Industry 4.0”, ever-evolving manufacturing technologies, and rapid development of new materials and new technologies, the global supply chain will become even shorter and more regional. Under such a trend and with customer expectations, Taiwan Kanken Techno has substantially improved the proportion of local purchases.

On the other hand, Taiwan’s numerous outstanding suppliers who are competitive in quality, delivery date, and price are Taiwan Kanken Techno’s best partners when it comes to supply chain management. Even over the past few years when the pandemic made it hard to dispatch materials and parts, the Taiwan base sustained less hardship thanks to the gradually localized supply chain. In addition, Taiwanese suppliers’ strict adherence to technological standards and delivery date commitments further boosts Taiwan Kanken Techno’s capabilities. After passing the reliability test, those made-in-Taiwan (MIT) parts are even exported to Japan and other countries. That’s why Kanken Group so highly regards its Taiwanese suppliers.

Taiwan Kanken Techno also strives to develop pollution prevention and control technologies out of its optimistic outlook for Taiwan’s green business opportunities

As the global supply chain is going green, Taiwan Kanken Techno’s most important business partners, i.e., semiconductor companies, are also trending steadily towards net-zero emissions. As an expert in local scrubbers, Kanken Group has urgently engaged in R&D to address the issue of reducing global warming substances like perfluoro compounds (PFCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Being proud of its leading technologies of pollution abatement equipment, Kanken Group also works hand-in-hand with Taiwanese customers to develop gas treatment equipment. In addition, on the environmental protection front, Kanken Group’s endeavor to reduce PM2.5 emissions has attained remarkable achievements, notably in the Taiwan market, where it has the advantage of collaborating with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). In the future, the Taiwan base will continue to function as the Group’s important manufacturing base; moreover, Taiwan Kanken Techno will gain more importance in the Group in terms of technological development.