Asia Tech Podcast – Episode 101 – Keesjan (Case) Engelen – Titoma – Is Taiwan or China a Better Place to Be an Electronics Entrepreneur?

Quote: “My team and I make sure your device gets done: reliable, on time, and on budget.”

In this episode of the Asia Tech Podcast, Michael Waitze is joined by Case Engelen, the CEO of Titoma, an electronic design, and manufacturing company. As a company, they are dedicated to cultivating successful electronic devices with expertise, avoiding delays and quality issues that are often experienced during the design and manufacturing processes.

They discussed what led Engelen to step foot into the world of industrial design and manufacturing, his personal experience working abroad, and his goals and motivation behind the establishment of Titoma. 

A New Vision of Life

 Many people dream of packing up and moving to another country at least once in their lifetime – and with good reason. There is an abundance of benefits that living overseas can offer, from new opportunities, a new and refreshing lifestyle to a chance to experience different cultures and more. For Engelen, it was his love of languages that guided him to make his first step on his journey that would eventually lead him to Taiwan.

It was through experiences such as an exchange trip for 8 months in France, to taking part in school trips to Hong Kong, where he discovered how much he “really liked meeting new people from different countries and learning new languages.” Fast-forward 25 years later, after moving to Taiwan to study the language, Engelen got into the field of industrial design and is still living in Taiwan.

He then goes on to talk about his experience moving to a completely foreign country and discusses any cultural differences he faced along the way.

Time to Market

 If you want something done right, chances are, you’re going to have to do it yourself.

As Engelen moved into the world of industrial design and manufacturing, he began working as a design consultant. He explained one of the biggest challenges he faced in that career, watching people not take your advice seriously.

As a design consultant, you’re responsible for assisting in the design and development of products through different comments and suggestions, these could range from how the design should look to how they should be implemented and so on. He found that when working with different people, they would sometimes vaguely take his advice and the end product that comes is never quite what he had envisioned.

To solve this issue, he decided to take control of the whole design and development process from start to finish and established his own company and built Titoma. He then goes on to discuss how Titoma prevents design and manufacturing problems every step of the way and the specialities they provide.

Finding What Fits

 “What’s the best way to organise the product design and the manufacturing process with how the world is designed today?”

Engelen explained that electronic components are the key for electronics, “if you look at the total cost, components are worth 70% of the total cost,” he said. Thus, it’s important to find the right factory that fits your needs.

Finding the right factory for the right components can be overwhelming with the abundance of choices in today’s market, you don’t want to lose time and money on the wrong things and it can be difficult to decide what to do. Engelen discussed his own experience in finding the right factories and his own tips and tricks in ensuring a successful process.

To learn more about Keesjan (Case) Engelen and his insight on the world of industrial design and manufacturing, listen to this episode of the Asia Tech Podcast today.