Never forget the original intention of entrepreneurship. Hsieh Yong-fen: MA-tek will always be the best R&D partner for customers.
Failure analysis (FA) and materials analysis (MA), which ensure product quality, performance, and reliability, have always played an important role in the semiconductor industry. In recent years, the semiconductor manufacturing industry has accelerated its globalization and expanded the scope of product applications. As a major player in Taiwan's semiconductor analysis field, MA-tek has adhered to the entrepreneurial spirit of "The Best R&D Partner" for many years, hoping to provide professional services nearby through the technical energy accumulated from years of investment in research and development. The Kumamoto laboratory, which will open in September, is a recent indicative move. Chairman Hsieh Yong-Fen pointed out that in the future, the Kumamoto laboratory will work in tandem with the Nagoya laboratory previously established by the company to assist customers in optimizing production capacity and product quality.
Overseas layout provides nearby services, deepening automotive research and development to seize diverse business opportunities.
Another Kumamoto laboratory will focus on wafer factory analysis services. Xie Yongfen pointed out that major semiconductor manufacturers in Taiwan have already established factories in Kumamoto, and mass production will begin in the next two years. MA-tek is setting up laboratories in line with customer steps. In terms of service content, she noted that the market development in the early stages mainly focuses on material analysis. After the technology matures and applications expand, demands for failure analysis, reliability analysis (RA), electrical failure analysis (EFA), surface analysis (SA), and chemical and physical property analysis (CA) will gradually emerge. MA-tek has strong technical capabilities in the aforementioned fields to meet the different analytical needs of customers. Among them, Japan is a new market with a very fast expansion rate, experiencing nearly 50% growth each year. She is optimistic about the local potential and estimates that this explosive growth will be maintained in the short term.
Another growth momentum for MA-tek's performance comes from the automotive industry. As mentioned earlier, MA-tek's services in the automotive field include various analysis and testing for automotive ICs and batteries. With the trend towards smart technology, the automotive electronics market is thriving, bringing significant opportunities to the semiconductor industry. However, Xie Yongfen mentioned that entering this field has its challenges, as automotive systems involve personal safety. If a system fails, it could lead to global recalls or high compensation costs, so automakers pay special attention to high reliability requirements. Automotive products must pass various standards such as ISO 26262, IATF 16949, and AEC-Q100. MA-tek's analysis and verification can provide reliability analysis and design recommendations for the overall system, and its expertise is highly recognized by customers, which is the main reason for the accelerated growth in this field. Battery analysis is a new business brought about by the trend of electric vehicles. Batteries are the power source for electric vehicles, and their quality is crucial to the overall vehicle performance. Battery analysis falls under material analysis and requires highly specialized technical experience and stringent analytical environments. For example, lithium battery analysis must be conducted in low-temperature nitrogen equipment to avoid material oxidation, so MA-tek has equipped nitrogen boxes and low-temperature FIB (Focused Ion Beam) microscopes. Xie Yongfen stated that MA-tek's Nagoya laboratory is the only local vendor that can support battery analysis services. As the electric vehicle market heats up, the demand for this analysis service has also grown, reflecting in MA-tek's performance.
MA-tek's three major advantages create strong competitiveness for customers.
From the battery analysis at the Nagoya laboratory and the market layout in China and Japan, MA-tek's three unique advantages in analytical services can be observed. First is the open-minded approach; when Xie Yongfen founded the company, she decided not to limit the business to a single area but chose to extend the service reach to various fields within her capabilities. Although semiconductor analysis remains the main source of revenue, MA-tek also possesses professional analytical capabilities in fields such as flat panel displays and LEDs, which have already accounted for a certain proportion of revenue. Even in semiconductor manufacturing, MA-tek began laying the groundwork in the early stages of market development, with automotive electronics being one example. As mentioned earlier, the automotive industry requires long-term validation before having the opportunity to enter the supply chain, so MA-tek invested in research and development early on to accumulate technological capabilities.
An open mindset is also reflected in the collaboration with clients. Due to the wide application of material analysis and failure analysis, it is impossible for an analysis laboratory to possess expertise in all single fields. Therefore, when taking on clients from new fields, MA-tek maintains an open attitude and collaborates with clients to develop solutions. Xie Yongfen stated that while the business operation mechanism of analysis services involves clients posing questions and laboratories solving them, clients also provide professional opinions in their respective fields when presenting their needs and work together with analysis service providers to develop solutions, combining both parties' strengths to find resolutions. MA-tek's battery analysis service expertise is built on this model. She emphasized that the premise of this collaborative model is that suppliers must have an open mindset to overcome various challenges in the R&D process and successfully complete tasks.
The diversified layout derived from an open mindset has allowed MA-tek's performance to maintain stable growth over the long term. Xie Yongfen stated that the industrial environment and economic cycles in global markets vary across different fields, and a diversified layout can effectively disperse risks. For example, during the semiconductor shortage caused by the pandemic, analysis services in optoelectronics and batteries timely filled the gap, allowing MA-tek to achieve growth against the trend, unaffected by a single industry.
MA-tek's second advantage is its proactive layout, allowing it to gain insights into market trends and invest in research and development in advance, so that when customer demands arise, it can provide suitable solutions. In basketball, there is a term called Leading Pass, which means to anticipate the teammate's movement and pass the ball to the right position in advance, creating the best shooting opportunity of "the ball arrives when the person is in place." However, to layout in advance and accurately, a strong professional foundation and trend insight are essential. Since materials and process technologies are sensitive data, the information that MA-tek can grasp is extremely limited, relying only on past professional speculation and sample preparation; therefore, the risk of its proactive layout is closely related to its level of expertise.
MA-tek has long-term collaborations with clients in various fields. Team members have a deep understanding of clients' needs in research and development, process monitoring, quality control, and other aspects. They analyze industry trends to assess clients' development pace and potential challenges, investing early in research and development to accumulate relevant technological capabilities. When demand truly arises, they can provide sufficient and complete information to assist clients in quickly solving problems. This leading industry trend of anticipating demand and meeting current needs gives MA-tek a unique competitive advantage and establishes a closer collaboration model with clients.
The third advantage is excellent multinational operational capability. Xie Yongfen pointed out that in addition to in-depth and comprehensive professional analysis, another key requirement from clients in this field is speed, hoping to receive analysis reports as soon as possible to facilitate subsequent process improvement operations. This is also the reason why analysis service providers must closely follow the footsteps of their clients and provide services nearby. The MA-tek team has rich international networking resources, allowing for quick local support to establish service points when expanding overseas, a capability that is relatively rare in the analysis service field.
Winning the Best Female CEO award again affirms the efforts and achievements of Xie Yongfen and MA-tek.
With strong professional technical capabilities, an open mindset, and powerful multinational abilities, MA-tek, which has been established for over 20 years, has delivered impressive results. Xie Yongfen has also been re-elected as the "Best Female CEO" by Harvard Business Review in 2023, becoming one of the "Top 10 Best OTC Female CEOs in Taiwan for 2023." This award is based on objective indicators such as total market value growth, cumulative total shareholder return (TSR), and average earnings per share (EPS). This year, for the first time, the evaluation included the ESG performance of companies to respond to global high standards for outstanding companies moving towards sustainability. Although this is an individual award for Xie Yongfen, the selection criteria also reflect recognition of the MA-tek team.
Regarding receiving the "Best Female CEO" award again, Xie Yongfen expressed deep gratitude. She also suggested that in the future, gender should not be a distinguishing factor, allowing entrepreneurs of both genders to be evaluated on the same standard. Additionally, she provided her views on the future development of the analysis service industry. First, communication and exchange among the government, industry, and academia could be closer. Xie Yongfen pointed out that the technology industry chain is complex, and its diverse characteristics have led to a lack of a complete definition of the technology industry across various sectors. She recalled that MA-tek once hoped to obtain a high-tech approval letter to facilitate the application for listing, but due to the lack of clear regulations, they could only go public in a general industry manner. For many years, Taiwan has hoped to cultivate industry leaders and innovative unicorns. To achieve this goal, a more open mindset and an attitude that accepts new industry models are necessary to make the vision a reality.
In addition, she also encourages Taiwanese companies to embrace innovative thinking and to boldly challenge the most difficult tasks. When MA-tek was founded, most people believed that investing a large amount of money in purchasing expensive instruments, and starting with the most difficult materials, would have very limited chances of success. However, Xie Yongfen insisted on this path. She believed that although material analysis is difficult, as long as the challenge is completed, it can drive the development of the analysis service industry. Moreover, the foundation accumulated during the process of solving the biggest challenges also gives MA-tek a strong technical capability to quickly overcome other lower-difficulty analysis challenges.
Regarding future planning, Xie Yongfen pointed out that deepening research and development capabilities and providing professional and comprehensive services are MA-tek's unchanging operational principles. In addition to corporate layout, strengthening analysis efficiency through new technologies is another focus. In recent years, AI has become a global industrial trend, and this technology will also change the analysis service industry. Currently, MA-tek is actively integrating AI with equipment to optimize cumbersome operational processes, assisting engineers in easily handling large amounts of data and quickly providing customers with accurate analysis reports.
In the rapidly changing industrial environment and the sweeping global trend of intelligence, analytical services that can assist industries in ensuring product quality and improving process efficiency will become increasingly important. Taiwan's technical capabilities in this field are undoubtedly strong. She finally calls on the domestic industry, government, and academia to work together to create a diverse and healthy industrial ecosystem, helping various enterprises to build different advantages and strengthen cooperation with each other. MA-tek will also continue to invest and contribute to the development of Taiwan's industry. For her, this is the true meaning of starting a business.
The above information is extracted from "DIGITIMES".
