The core concept of the Productivity 4.0 plan is to propel Taiwan to a pivotal position in the global manufacturing supply chain by capitalizing on the nation's edge in industrial technology, while fostering an outstanding work environment with synergy between employees and automation in order to cope with Taiwan's imminent labor shortage, Premier Mao Chi-kuo stated at today's Cabinet meeting after the Office of Science and Technology (OST) reported on the draft of the plan.
This situation poses a new opportunity for the nation's industries to transform and develop, and the premier enjoined various ministries and agencies to pool their collective wisdom and efforts to bring the Productivity 4.0 plan to fruition.
Mao expressed his gratitude to Vice Premier Chang San-cheng and Minister without Portfolio Yan Hong-sen for formulating the plan via cross-ministerial collaboration. The plan consists of six major strategies pointing out future directions for industrial development: enhancing and fine-tuning flagship industries' smart-supply-chain ecosystems, encouraging startups, localizing production and services, achieving autonomy in key technologies, cultivating practical and technical talents, and injecting industrial policy tools. It is therefore highly significant for the nation to usher in industrial innovation and transformation.
Taiwan is faced with a shrinking work force and the dual challenges of developing nations carving up the mass-production market and industrialized nations occupying the high-end market for custom-made products, the premier pointed out. In the ensuing "fourth industrial revolution," major challenges to the nation's industrial development include how to promote innovation and transformation in industries, achieve autonomous capabilities in key technologies, and sustain international competitiveness.
The objective of the Productivity 4.0 plan is to develop autonomous capabilities across the board in the key technologies of different industries, the premier emphasized. Industries could duplicate the bicycle industry's successful A-team model from the '90s to unleash small and medium-sized enterprises' business upgrade and transformation potential.
The key to all this is talent, the premier reiterated. Human resources issues can be categorized into two aspects. One is research and development (R&D) personnel that will help foster the high-level R&D work force for Productivity 4.0. The other is technical and vocational colleges, with the focus on secondary education, where there is much room for upgrade and transformation of curricular and training methods as well as a necessity for numerous complementary measures. In addition, the Ministry of Labor and other related ministries must get involved in on-the-job training of workers.