Workplace reviews and discussion: 鴻發國際科技股份有限公司

A company that is just getting by

1. To put it nicely, this company is hiring a mechanical engineer; to put it bluntly, it is simply looking for a drafter. The company does not need you to think about anything—just follow the PM’s instructions and complete the work within the deadline.

2. This company’s machines do not require validation. At your company, I developed a new model and completed the 2D/3D drawings in just nine days. As soon as one prototype was completed, it was shipped. On top of that, the head of the PM department is also the company’s vice president. He does not know how to manage projects but loves to interfere. During development, for example, the hardware department did not know about changes to the coin module, while the software department did not rush to design the machine’s external UI until just before shipment. This clearly shows a lack of cross-functional communication. Most importantly, after rushing to complete a new project, the bonus was only NT$3,000.

3. Machine specifications should be confirmed during the development stage. After 15 machines had already entered mass production, they suddenly said the IPC had to be replaced because the new one was cheaper. I can accept the explanation that it was cheaper, provided that the PM communicates with all relevant departments before making a decision. Instead, the PM only announces such decisions when shipment is imminent. The PM vice president also shifts the blame by saying that he mentioned it long ago and that “you people just weren’t listening.” As a result, outside vendors and internal R&D staff are constantly left to clean up his messes.

4. The company has no concept of an approved sample document. The Procurement Department often replaces Vendor A with Vendor B without notifying anyone, and the issue is only discovered when problems arise during mass production. Even more absurdly, the mechanical R&D team is always held responsible when something goes wrong. Basically, everything from the eighth-floor production line to the fifth-floor PQC is managed by the Procurement Manager. When the Procurement Manager calls to ask about something, she acts as though you owe her NT$2.58 million and conducts business based on her emotions. When R&D needs to modify a mold and asks Procurement whether stock should be prepared, Procurement always says there is enough. When the mold actually needs to be modified, they then say there is insufficient inventory and ask when it can be fixed, followed by relentless pressure on R&D, which is unbelievable. Procurement also never maintains sufficient inventory, so shortages result in long periods of downtime. There was finally a Production Control Department that could counterbalance Procurement, but within a few days the Procurement Manager went to become the manager of Production Control. In other words, she was still in control, so the same problems described above continued to occur.

5. Regarding the same matter that occurred on June 13, 2025: previously, a design using Lens A was adopted to consume existing inventory. Since Lens A is now out of stock and its MOQ is too high, Procurement issued an ECR to replace it with Lens B. The R&D manager disagreed, but Procurement directly issued the materials to the production line and required the mechanical engineer to change the BOM.

6. The company’s HR department has no real authority and does not know employees’ salaries, because the CEO keeps salary matters firmly under his control. Even an application for mechanical samples costing less than NT$100 must be approved by the CEO. Even when a department manager wants to give an employee a raise, it must go through the CEO. As far as I know, when the R&D manager raised the issue of salary adjustments, the request was rejected.

7. Because the company’s HR department cannot find mechanical engineers or testing interns, it often comes up with bizarre ideas, such as having someone without a relevant degree, officially designated as a document-control employee, use the title of mechanical engineer, or turning testing interns into test engineers. The goal is to attract people who want to be called “engineers” to work there. Such strange ideas are extremely unfair to genuine engineers. People with widely varying skill levels are given the company’s “engineer” title, which will cause truly qualified graduating engineers to have their abilities questioned by companies across the industry!

8. The company’s MIS department is extremely dysfunctional. Whenever there is a computer problem, they tell you to restart the computer. If they cannot solve it, they simply reinstall the operating system. Desktop computers are labeled by MIS with “Internet access prohibited.” Everyone knows why Internet access is prohibited. In addition, the desktop computer specifications are museum-piece quality. The department manager made it sound good by asking us to list the current computer specifications, but in reality the CEO simply does not want to help engineers upgrade their hardware, and nothing has happened for a long time. On the software side, the company currently uses SolidWorks 2016. The CEO does not want to purchase the software outright, believing that renting it is cheaper, but apparently does not realize that the software upgrade issue remains unresolved to this day.

9. As mentioned above, the version being used is 2016. Strangely, the Serbia region uses a more advanced version, making it impossible to circulate drawing files between the same company. Even the system and component part numbers follow different standards, making it seem as though the two sides are not operating as part of the same company at all. The Serbia team also periodically asks us to change to its coding principles, leading to endless arguments between the two sides, which ultimately go nowhere.