CHC Chairman to Sharpen

Staffs' Technical Capabilities

Tom Jeng, chief executive officer of Kinesis Industry Co., Ltd., has recently been elected chairman of the Cycling & Health Tech Industry R&D Center (CHC). Jeng is the fifth chairman of the research institution, located in Taichung, central Taiwan.

The Bicycle Industry R&D Center, the predecessor of the current organization, was founded in 1990 and the organization was renamed not long ago as the scope of research has expanded to include medical and health equipment. Exports of health equipment have played an important role in Taiwan's earnings..

Since the inception of the institute, the former chairmanships were taken up by founders of complete bicycle manufacturing companies. Tom Jeng is the first top executive of a bicycle parts company becoming chairman of the research institute.

Jeng assumed office as chairman of the Cycling & Health Tech Industry R&D Center (CHC) on Aug. 9. He will run the research and development center over the next three years.

In an exclusive interview with the publication, Tom Jeng said what he will do during his tenure of office will be to strengthen educational training for his staff, mostly engineers, in an effort to upgrade their technical capabilities in order to develop forward-looking bicycles products and health equipment. 

The new CHC chairman also stressed the importance of building up increased contacts with the bicycle and medical and health industries. "It is my earnest hope that our R&D products would be more widely used by the industrial communities concerned in the future," said Tom Jeng. "On the other hand, I hope the industries concerned would come to us more often, taking advantage of our resources."

The new chairman said he was wondering why in the past few companies came to consult the research organization. "I will spend more time and thought to figure out why and find solutions to the problems," stressed Tom Jeng, who is also chairman of Kinesis Industries Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of bicycle frames and forks in Taiwan, founded 14 years ago.

In addition to what he plans to accomplish in the next three years, Tom Jeng paid tribute to the contributions made by the former chairmen of the research institute. "Despite a variety of difficulties over the past years, this organization has laid a solid foundation on which the previous chairmen had an important role to play," commented Tom Jeng.

Testing capabilities

Jeng said CHC has a strong capability in testing which has been widely recognized nationally and internationally. "We have been approached by local and foreign companies to help solve their technical problems, and we have earned their admirable recognition. In spite of this, I am sure our capabilities can be further globalized," noted the new chairman.

Turning to the international design competition on bicycles organized annually by the research organization, Jeng said he earnestly hoped that the winning products can be commercialized by the bicycle industry at home and abroad. "In this respect, a lot more publicity and promotions would be carried out in the future," he added.

Tom Jeng is a machinery graduate from a prestigious university in central Taiwan. Prior to founding his own company, he worked for Giant Mfg. Co., Ltd. for four years.

Jeng said he is fond of reading books and magazines on management and economics during leisure hours. To keep fit, he jogs whenever he finds time.