策略適配與價值創造：A公司案例分析

Abstract

A公司是一家成立於2000年的電子製造公司，於2013年在台灣上櫃。公司資本額較小，生意模式偏小量多樣，此類公司在台灣被歸類成工業電腦公司。但事實上公司的產品與業務跟傳統的工業電腦沒太大關聯，主力產品為網路運算相關設備，目標客群為網路運算或是相關應用，包含想要用現成的硬體稍許客製的軟體商(ISV)，或是想採用ODM廠商產品但不想付NRE的小品牌公司，通常這類型客戶為較小規模且無配置足夠的硬體研發人員。在台灣的企業管理案例研究中，對於這類公司的研究較少，此為研究動機。 A公司成立之初，從由處理器廠商的公板代工開始做起，公板為處理器廠商送給或是賣給電子產品開發商的參考設計主機板，目的是提供行銷展示與給ODM廠商複製解決開發上的問題，因為此類產品在設計上需要把各式各樣功能都考慮到，不會考慮到特定應用的最佳化，也不是拿來做銷售用途，處理器廠商所提供的訂單數量通常很少，屬於典型的少量專案。在2002年，A公司開始切入網路運算設備領域，從小數量的主機板設計製造代工，轉成協助網路運算軟體商客群，設計整機系統並生產出貨。在海外布局的部分，分別在2010與2016年設立了大陸與美國分公司，由於產品屬性偏向網路安全的關係，大陸市場很早便有製造在地化的需求，最近更是朝主要零組件國產化進行，而美國市場則是需要在地的技術人員(FAE, Field Application Engineer)與備品庫房(Logistic Hub)及時解決技術與備品問題，當然隨者中美貿易戰的升溫，近來愈來愈多的美國客戶也提到在地組裝生產的需求。 以A公司為例，透過了解在面對這種特別的市場上，以其成長與轉型的軌跡、產品差異化與市場區隔選擇的進行、以及怎樣面對各方的競爭等，來分析這樣類型的企業如何採取適配的策略。 設計製造代工，尤其是在電子業，是一個台灣擅長的產業，靠著台灣勤奮人力與眾多的研發人才創造了一個有著高效成果的產業集散地。但隨著時代進展，如邊緣計算、雲端資料中心、軟體定義硬體、高速頻寬、白牌興起、中美貿易戰等等的市場與技術變化，分別帶給電子製造業中各種變數，產生出競爭、整合、轉型、擴張等等的商業模式與策略，其中在市場與產品區隔、研發技術與供應鏈資源、全球與在地的布局，也是電子製造業發展的關鍵。 由A公司的發展軌跡可看到此類產業發展與其競爭策略變化的縮影，姑且稱此產業為客製運算設備產業，可當成一個典型案例。

Company A is an electronics manufacturing company established in 2000 and listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 2013. With relatively small capital, the company's business model focuses on producing small batches of diverse products. Such companies are categorized as industrial computer companies in Taiwan. However, the company’s products and services have little to do with industrial computers. Its main products are related to network computing, targeting software companies that do not wish to purchase ready-made hardware from OEM companies or pay NRE to use a big ODM vendor. These target customers are usually smaller companies without in-house hardware development staff. There is limited research on such kind of companies in Taiwan's management case studies, which creates the motivation for this research. Company A started by manufacturing reference motherboards for processor suppliers. These reference boards were provided to processor target customers or developers by processor manufacturers for marketing purposes or replicating development issues. Because the design aimed to encompass a wide range of functions without optimizing for specific applications and were not intended for volume sale, the quantities were usually small. In 2002, Company A entered the network computing field, shifting from manufacturing small batches of motherboards to a little big market, assisting network computing software companies in designing and manufacturing entire systems.

Regarding overseas expansion, the company established subsidiaries in China and the United States in 2010 and 2016, respectively. Due to the security nature of its products, the Chinese market required localized manufacturing early on, with a recent focus on localizing major components due to trade war. In contrast, the U.S. market required local Field Application Engineers (FAEs) and hubs to address technical and spare parts issues promptly. And same as China, U.S. customers have also expressed a need for local assembly and production recently due to trade war getting serious. Using Company A as a case study, this research aims to analyze how such companies adopt suitable strategies by understanding their growth and transformation trajectories, differentiation processes, and how they face various competitive pressures. Electronics manufacturing is an industry where Taiwan excels, leveraging its diligent workforce and abundant R&D talent to create a highly efficient industrial cluster. However, with advancements in edge computing, cloud data centers, software-defined hardware, high performance computing, the rise of white-box products, the US-China Trade War, and rapid technological changes, the electronics manufacturing industry faces various challenges. These challenges include competition, integration, transformation, and expansion, each requiring corresponding business models and strategies. Key factors in the development of the electronics manufacturing industry include market and product segmentation, technical and supply chain resources arrangement, and global and local operation deployment. Company A’s development trajectory reflects the evolution of this industry and its competitive strategy changes, making it a typical case study.