Air Liquide, a French multinational corporation founded in 1902, is a world leader in gases, technologies and services for the industrial and healthcare sector. The Air Liquide Group has over 9,400 km of supply pipelines, and delivers more than 60,000 bottles of special gases to customers worldwide annually. Using a wide range of supply models, including pipelines, tanker trucks and on-site supply, the Air Liquide Group serves more than 3.7 million customers and patients in 80 different countries around the world. The gases that the Air Liquide Group produces on a daily basis, including oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen, are widely used in industries such as electronics, semiconductors, automotive manufacturing, healthcare, food production, pharmaceuticals, petrochemical and more. These gas products are thus closely intertwined with people's daily lives.Link of interview video
In 1987, Taiwan industry was experiencing a period of rapid industrial development. The semiconductor industry has gradually become the leading industry, driving the rapid growth of industrial gas demand. Impressed by the potential of the market in Taiwan, the Air Liquide Group and Taiwan’s Far Eastern Group established the joint-venture company Air Liquide Far Eastern (ALFE). This was the largest French investment in the manufacturing sector in Taiwan.
ALFE has been recognized by the Golden Merchant Award for its contribution to the country. ALFE has more than 40+ gas production plants in major science parks and industrial zones, supplying high-purity gases to 1,000+ customers and patients in Taiwan. Majority of the company's revenue comes from the electronics industry, followed by the industrial business.
ALFE has been proactive in expanding its business scope in Taiwan. The company has started out with the electronics sector and gradually expanded into other market segments, including petrochemicals, general manufacturing, food manufacturing, and healthcare. Over time, ALFE has expanded its gas supply infrastructure in line with Taiwan's economic development and growth. Currently, ALFE's main products include nitrogen, oxygen, argon, hydrogen, special industrial and electronics gases, and advanced electronics materials. The main services the company provides are gas supply, provision of specialist equipment, technical support, total solutions that include the installation of gas equipment at customer premises.
ALFE currently has construction plans of new plants and expansion of existing plants in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung. ALFE is confident about Taiwan's industrial development. In 2019, the company announced the construction of a new advanced materials center. In 2020, ALFE invested over NT$1 billion in expanding the product supply capability of its facility in the Chung Kang Export Processing Zone in Taichung City. ALFE also plans to invest additional 200 million Euros (approximately NT$7 billion) in building high-purity hydrogen and oxygen production plants in the Tainan Science Park and Hsinchu Science Park.
Having inherited the corporate culture of the Air Liquide Group, ALFE provides employees with a wide range of opportunities to develop their capabilities, and a first-class working environment. ALFE has received the Ministry of Labor’s Award Employee-Friendly Working Environment and the Bureau of Employment’s Certificate of Talent Quality-management System (TTQS). ALFE was also awarded The Best Companies to Work For in Asia by HR Asia Award. ALFE offers diversified training programs and comprehensive talent development plans to help employees enhance their abilities in every area. In addition, ALFE regularly provides work rotations, short-term assignments and group projects, etc. to give employees opportunities to acquire an international perspective and experience at overseas subsidiaries. In order to create a better working environment for employees, ALFE relocated its Hsinchu office to a new building located adjacent to Hsinchu High Speed Rail Station in 2019. The new office has an open, flexible working environment with a corporate image wall, demo room, inno space, well-being area and phone booth, etc.
When it comes to human talent, ALFE has its own approach, which prioritizes recruitment of local Taiwanese talent. Every year, ALFE spends a considerable amount of money to organize a Summer School and International Internship Program (IIP). Participating students have the opportunity to travel to Air Liquide’s global headquarters in Paris or one of its overseas subsidiaries to engage in dialog with international talents. Student programs enable ALFE to get an early start on recruiting top Taiwanese talents.
The Air Liquide Group values corporate social responsibility (CSR), such as compressing natural gas to replace traditional fuels for trains, buses and other transportations. Air Liquide has committed to reduce its carbon intensity by 30% by 2025. This will make Air Liquide the first industrial gas producer in the world to take concrete action to fulfill its corporate social responsibility.
In Taiwan, in line with the Air Liquide Group's philosophy, ALFE been actively involved in environmental protection activities for many years. ALFE holds annual Volunteer Day to give back to society. ALFE organized annual beach clean-up in Hsinchu, Taichung and Kaohsiung, with over 200 ALFE employees and customers making their contribution towards safeguarding marine environments and protecting the planet. In addition to safeguarding the environment, ALFE also helps disadvantaged groups on a regular basis. An example is ALFE’s sponsorship for an aboriginal children string orchestra in Nantou County to compete in an international music contest in Vienna. ALFE has also provided gas science and safety education to elementary schools in remote areas and aboriginal communities for many years.
Air Liquide has long supported ALFE in R&D and innovation by introducing the group’s core technologies to Taiwan, including technology related to the advanced precursor materials needed for semiconductor production processes. ALFE has established a gas analysis laboratory in Taichung in order to supply electronics-grade gases to high-tech industries, such as semiconductor manufacturing (including memory ICs), LCD panel manufacturing, solar panel manufacturing. ALFE Taichung facility was the first special gas laboratory to secure TAF ISO 17025 certification in Taiwan. In 2019, ALFE also strengthened the capabilities of its Electronics Material Center Taiwan (EMCT) in Taichung. ALFE has been using advanced gas purification, filling, mixing and product analysis technologies to develop new electronics specialty materials.
In the next stage, ALFE is looking to develop hydrogen mobility in Taiwan. The company hopes to implement a hydrogen-powered shuttle bus pilot project, so as to provide a zero-emissions shuttle bus service linking the science parks, industrial parks and high speed rail stations, thereby making it possible for gas to create new value in a new field.
Global supply chains had been severely impacted by the China-U.S. trade war and COVID-19. The pandemic also had a serious effect on business operations throughout the world. Despite the challenging business environment, ALFE has not only succeeded in maintaining normal operation in Taiwan, but also responded quickly with flexible allocation of production capacity. ALFE delivered strong sales growth in the first half of 2020 as a result. Olivier Blachier, President of ALFE, noted that: “Taiwan's performance in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and the resilience of Taiwanese industry have won plaudits throughout the world; Taiwan should feel proud of these achievements.”
Blachier recalls that when he first visited Taiwan 20 years ago for a project with TSMC, the Taiwan High Speed Rail was still under construction and traveling to Tainan was very time consuming. The area near that project site was not developed. A decade later, Blachier frequently visited Taiwan for short-term assignments before he was appointed as ALFE’s president in 2018. Blachier witnessed great transformation in Taiwan’s industry and environment. Blachier feels that, given Taiwan’s world-class enterprises, technology and comprehensive infrastructure, it should seize the opportunities presented by the global supply chains adjustments in response to the COVID-19 epidemic and by developments in new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). Looking ahead to the future, ALFE will continue to support Taiwanese industry with industrial gases, special gases and energy solutions as it has done in the past three decades. ALFE stands by Taiwan to write a new chapter in the history of Taiwan's industrial development.
Source： Department of Investment Promotion, MOEA
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