What America Can Learn from Taiwan’s Manufacturing

When most people think of Taiwan, they picture semiconductors and Taipei 101. But there’s something far more fascinating happening in their machine shops. We traveled to TIMTOS, the Taipei International Machine Tool Show, and discovered what makes Taiwan’s manufacturing sector unique. In a space slightly larger than Maryland, we found over 6,000 machine shops collaborating in ways that left us questioning everything we thought we knew about modern manufacturing. This isn’t just another factory tour. This is a wake-up call. From a president who opens machine tool shows to mom-and-pop shops running automation that would make Western manufacturers jealous, Taiwan’s approach to manufacturing reveals hard truths about what we’ve lost and what we might reclaim. “Take a walk through Taichung and in five short kilometers, you can piece together an entire CNC machine from scratch. Ball screws? Absolutely. The casting? No problem.” The lessons? Proximity matters. Collaboration within competition works. And manufacturing isn’t just about making things—it’s about national identity. Whether you run a small machine shop or a large manufacturing operation, Taiwan’s model offers practical insights that could reshape how we approach making things in America. What could your shop learn from Taiwan’s manufacturing ecosystem? Watch to find out.