Dr. Chen :Taidoc Technology Moving

To New Building Due to Rapid Growth

Taidoc Technology Corp., a young player in the biomedical field in Taiwan , has registered more than one hundred percent growth in export over the last three years.

The company is a manufacturer and exporter of blood glucose monitoring system, strip ejection, blood pressure monitors, nebulizers and ear and forehead thermometers.

When Taidoc Technology was founded in 1998 in Taipei, it was an IC designing house, designing chips for Taiwan 's manufacturers for the above-mentioned medical devices. It was turned into a maker of these medical products only three years ago after gaining an extensive experience in the chip designing sector.

"Before we decided to turn the IC designing house into a manufacturer, we had had laid a solid foundation in the medical-device related IC business," said Dr. Mike CW Chen, general manager and founder of Taidoc Technology Corp. "Not only this, we had gone through a very thorough and thoughtful planning before setting up the manufacturing operations. The remarkable and fast business growth does not fall all of a sudden from the sky."

The medical devices developed and manufactured by Taidoc Technology Corp. are exported to the key markets the world over, with the U.S. taking 40 percent of its total exports. While shipments to Europe account for 20 percent, the general manager said, the remaining 40 percent are distributed among Asia, the Middle East and mainland China .

Blood glucose meters

Dr. Chen who obtained a doctoral degree in biomedical engineering from the prestigious National Taiwan University, said between 70 and 80 percent of his company's revenues are generated from blood glucose monitoring systems, with the remaining 20 to 30 percent coming from IC design, ear thermometers, blood pressure monitors and others.

When Taidoc Technology Corp was founded in 1998, there were only two persons, according to Dr. Chen. "Today, we have 230 people working for Taidoc Technology. We hope to increase our work force to 300 towards the end of 2007."

The company is located at the Taipei Technology Park. To meet rapid growth, Dr. Chen said he has found and bought a new office complex with about 10 stories in another industrial park in Taipei county.

The general manager said most of the medical devices exported are OEM and ODM orders. "Only a small percentage of our exports carries our Clever Chek brand.

Dr. Chen said his company has a strong R&D department, composed of some 50 researchers, with biochemistry, electrical engineering background, etc. "New products are developed and released by the R&D team every year, particularly before the opening of major international medical shows," noted the general manager.

Tennis keeps him fit

Playing tennis and golf keeps Dr. Chen fit. "I am fond of playing tennis and I play two times a week," he said. "I have no other hobbies except reading. In addition to economic and commercial daily newspapers, I also subscribe and read regularly magazines on management."

Dr. Chen has an elegant wife who also graduated from National Taiwan University in biomedical engineering. She is helping her husband to run the company. They have two children, with the eldest going to a junior high school and the younger to an elementary school.