3D printing is a global trend for many burgeoning industries. PIDC, a member of Central Taiwan Unit of the Industrial Upgrading and Transformation Service Team has developed 3D printing materials and equipment to assist domestic upgrading of traditional industries, helping plastic manufacturing firms using 3D printing technology to create plastic materials that have ten times their original value.
Facing global competition, the Ministry of Economic Affairs proposed an industrial upgrading and transitioning program to aid domestic traditional industries to become economically sustainable. The Central Taiwan Unit of the Industrial Upgrading and Transformation Service Team was then established by the Industrial Development Bureau to operate this program in assisting industrial development.
For the entire domestic petrochemical industry to upgrade together, the Industrial Development Bureau has identified the advantages of 3D printing technology to be customization, flexibility and high efficiency ratio, etc.. The "materials" are key to the development of 3D technology; therefore, 3D printing materials are listed as one of the important high-value petrochemicals. We utilize 3D printing to enhance the value of petrochemical raw materials and the respected back-end processes, to assist the industry to take hold of global development and market.
As a result, the Industrial Development Bureau instructed PIDC to conduct 3D printing material research with the mindset of encouraging mid and downstream petrochemical manufacturers to produce highly complex and quality products, especially 3D printing materials that could not be used in injection mold technologies. PIDC indicates that their currently developed 3D printing materials will gradually be used to develop industrial plastics as well as high-end polymers.
Since Kaohsiung has always been a petrochemical stronghold, industrial transition tops the list for future city development agenda. The Industrial Development Bureau aims to balance the industrial development in the country by establishing a 3D R&D base aptly named “Shape Your Mind” in Kaohsiung through PIDC, aiming to expand brand new 3D printing technologies and the respective industrial usages here in Kaohsiung.
PIDC indicates that starting in July this year, the 3D Shape Your Mind R&D Base will officially be stationed in the R7 Creative Hub. They will develop 3D printing materials, and integrate them with cultural and creative design, new manufacturing processes, digital energy technology, and assisting with the upgrading and transitioning of petrochemical, plastic and mid and downstream industries to develop specialized and differentiated products, and motivate the industry to strive towards a more intellectual, environmentally friendly and cultural creative future.