群聚產業之技術能力的形成及演化—以苗栗粉末冶金產業為例

Abstract

隨著國際經貿趨勢變化，先進國家終端產業（end users）開始向後進國家釋出新興應用開發的機會，以回應市場破碎化下日益複雜的需求，也因此深化國際專業化分工的內涵。相對來說，我國在大力倡議品牌的效果不彰後，也轉而拾取德語系國家「隱形冠軍」企業專注本業的精神，期能透過發展關鍵或獨特技術來提高產業附加價值，同時提升中小企業的自主性。 本研究以台灣粉末冶金群聚產業為例，試圖說明其作為後進國家中小企業而邁向技術專殊化的可能性，並回應本研究的三個發問：（1）台灣粉末冶金產業的技術能力發展呈現出何等歷程／軌跡？（2）在台灣粉末冶金產業之技術能力發展背後，影響其技術學習／累積的關鍵因素為何？（3）如何理解產業群聚的中介調整，可能為技術學習關鍵因素的發揮帶來的影響？ 本研究以質性研究方法，蒐集二手資料並與該領域之業界先進、學研專家進行深度訪談。研究結果發現，群聚於苗栗的粉末冶金產業，起初透過各式低負荷零件（而非典型的汽車零件等）的大量製造，逐漸累積地方特定的資產。隨後，結合前述資產所形成的在地支援體系，台灣粉末冶金產業在多樣化生產實作下開始改變自身定位，且從2010年代起朝向各式高性能零件的創新解決方案提供者而為演化。其次，本研究認為較開放的問題建構取向，在台灣粉末冶金產業的技術學習過程中，扮演了關鍵因素。其促成廠商的技術能力發展更為靈活，有利於發掘更多技術知識的互補性可能。其中，值得注意的轉變在於以製程為中心的創新構想，令廠商演化出所謂創新促成能力。

最後，粉末冶金產業群聚除了聚集優勢與地理鄰近性，也反身性地以吸引額外的技術學習投入，從而促使群聚產業得以更及時地的提出創新解決方案。有關產業群聚作為一空間組織型態而對此產業技術學習產生的中介效果，本研究亦提列些許案例以為說明。 總結來說，本研究藉由苗栗粉末冶金群聚產業之技術能力的形成及演化，說明群聚產業未必只能服膺以產品為中心的線性思維，並有其他的可能發展途徑。尤其，在國際經貿發展的變遷下，以製程為中心的新興應用開發機會正不斷成長，而群聚廠商（特別是以水平網絡為主者）的專殊化發展機會，並不只能期待偶發事件，實有可能透過刻意地回應市場破碎化以獲得。

As the trend of the international economy and trade has been changing recently, many industrial end-users in advanced countries have decided to outsource the production processes of their new application, in response to the increasingly differentiated demands under the market fragmentation, further deepening the specialization of the international division of labor. Correspondingly, in the case of Taiwan, after crippled by its previous strategies to promote OEM-to-own-brand transition, Taiwanese government has been turning its attention to the route of German ‘hidden champion’ companies, following a strategy of specialization to gain from the changing international economy. However, few existing studies address the question: how could SMEs in latecomer countries, such as Taiwan, increase value-added and pricing power through its specialization? This study takes Taiwanese powder metallurgy (PM) industrial cluster as an example to provide explanations for latecomer SMEs’ strategy of specialization. It aims to answer the following questions: (1)How has Taiwan’s PM industry developed its technological capabilities since its emergence? (2)What are the key factors influencing the technological learning/accumulation processes of Taiwan’s PM industry? (3) How would the spatial clustering mediate the technological learning processes of Taiwan’s PM industry? This study adopts the qualitative research methods for the data collection, including second-hand data and in-depth interviews. Firstly, it finds that Taiwanese PM industry had initially focused on the mass production of a variety of low-strength components, such as oil-impregnated sintered bearings for home appliance, instead of producing classic ones (e.g. auto parts). As a result, it accumulated some place-specific assets, some of which later became a local supportive system for high-variety manufacturing. Co-evolving with such a local supportive system, Taiwanese PM industry later managed to turn itself into an innovative solution provider in different types of high performance metal parts in the 2010s. Secondly, this study argues that the accumulating assets and experience alone cannot fully explain the evolution of technological capabilities of Taiwanese PM industry. It is the openness of its problem-building and -solving orientation that served as the key factor in the technological learning processes of Taiwanese PM industry. This enables such a industry to go beyond those established process specifications and to explore its technological complementarity with other technologies or systems. A notable transformation is its development of some process-centered innovations, leading to the establishment of “innovation enabling capabilities”. Finally, this study finds that Taiwanese PM industry has received several kinds of additional inputs through its technological learning process in a reflexive way, which help it come up with innovative solutions in a timely manner. We also offer examples to illustrate and elaborate the effects of spatial clustering in mediating the processes. In conclusion, this study provides a possible approach for a clustered industry to develop its technological capabilities, and highlights the growing opportunities for process-centered innovations, alongside the changing international economy. Particularly for industrial clusters composed mainly of horizontal networks (which is hard to implement virtual and vertical integration strategies), the case of Taiwanese PM industry clustered in Miaoli particularly show that a non-product-centered specialization is practical and its growth can be expected by deliberate arrangements among clustered SMEs in response to the market fragmentation.