In Brief
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SGS IN TAIWAN
SGS Far East Ltd., Taiwan was officially affiliated to SGS Group Switzerland in 1952. Branch offices were established in the major commercial centers of Taipei, Keelung and Kaohsiung.
The 1950's
The Central Government moved from China to Taiwan in 1949, where it was assisted by US aid. The core business concentration of SGS at that time was the inspection of commodities, such as wheat, soybeans, cotton, fertilizer, etc.
The 1960's
The government actively promoted the expert of textiles and other labor-intensive consumer products, which led to the exponential export growth. SGS expanded its operations in the inspection of consumer products to cope with the increment in sales. By 1962, SGS and Far Eastern Freight Conference (FEFC) had entered into a strategic alliance to implement CFS/LCL cargo measurement and weight verification services for local new market needs.
The 1970's
Due to the growing demands for imported raw materials, the needs for mineral and chemical inspection increased rapidly. As the export market for electronics continued to grow, SGS expanded its role as the agent for UL/CSA/VDE/BSI to provide certification, and inspection services. Taiwan firmly established itself as one of the world's leading exporters for consumer products (textiles, garments, shoes, and etc), the inspection service of consumer products became SGS major business in that period. In response to these expanding activities, the Taichung office was then set up. During the period, SGS signed global contracts with more than 20 developing countries to provide Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI) services to local exporters. In order to meet this demand, Economic Affairs Division was established.
The 1980's
The Laboratory Center was launched in 1981 to focus on testing of consumer products and foods. This was in line with the Government's intention to improve the quality of export products. Corresponding to the rapid expansion in the petrochemical industry, our Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Division was created in 1986. During this time, SGS was able to achieve tremendous sales growth in PSI services when the contracts were signed with the Government of the Indonesian and Philippines.
The 1990's
To keep up with the industrial upgrading and internationalization in Taiwan, SGS Taiwan Ltd. was formed through the FIA of the Ministry of Economic Affairs to further augment the service scope in testing and technical support. SGS Yarsley International Certification Service of UK was initially introduced to Taiwan to provide ISO 9000 certification and related training services. These programs certified many professionals who became publicly recognized as leaders in the quality certification field. Followed by more Internationally recognized standards such as the CE marking (EU), QS 9000/TS16949, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, TL, HACCP, QM9004(TQM) and etc. were also integrated to become a part of SGS Taiwan services.
The 2000's
The laboratory was continuously enlarged to cover the market needs, including Chemical, Ultra T.I.S., Foods, Environmental, Hard Goods, Textile, Toys, Reliability, Electromagnetic Compatibility, Safety, Construction Materials, Steel, NDT, Petrochemical/ Coal and Drag Abuse were incorporated under the vast umbrella of the Laboratory Center. Our Laboratory is the biggest and the most diverse private testing facility in Taiwan. Due to the importance of environmental protection and waste recycling, Environmental Auditing Division was set up to incorporate experience from European and American countries. In order to assure construction safety and quality management, as well as to provide architectural and legal services for architects and constructors, the Industrial & Construction Inspection Division was created.
In recent years, SGS not only developed unique inspection and testing services, but also provided Integrated Services in conjunction with our diversified professionals in different industries in order to meet with client’s requirements. It covers raw materials and accessories testing in electronics industrial (e.g. the European Union ROHS regulations), quality management systems (ISO 9001, ISO14001 and IECQ QC080000), regulatory compliance testing (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EMC, Safety, OTA), products inspection, food safety and health inspection, testing and audit, system accreditations (ISO22000, HACCP), food supplementary testing, fruits and vegetables pesticide residue testing; environmental impact assessment and monitoring public engineering and construction projects, soil and ground water investigation before land development, engineering material testing, non-destructive testing, construction process monitoring, construction project management services and total quality management system accreditation to combine with ISO 9001, ISO14001 & OHSAS 18001 etc.
With 50 years of services in Taiwan, SGS Taiwan has near to 1,800 employees, Headquarter locates in WuKu, other branches are in Keelung, Suao, Nankong, Taoyuan, Chongli, Hsinchu, Taichung, Mailio, Doliu, Tainan, and Kaoshiung, plus working stations in all major harbors and warehouses in Taiwan.
In the past, SGS played an important role by supporting clients with expanding exports and enhancing the quality of the products during the course of Taiwan's economic development. SGS will continue to uphold its standard of excellence by sustaining Taiwan's future economic advances.
