Taiwan's engineering software integrator Formosun Technology posted its best-ever August and eight-month revenue, a good sign for the companies designing chips, batteries and cooling parts.

• August sales rose from a year earlier, and revenue for the first eight months is up about 9% — both records for the period.
• Growth came mainly from CAE, the simulation software manufacturers use to design and test products on a computer before building them.
• Demand is strongest from electronics — memory modules, chip packaging and testing, cooling parts and batteries — plus bike components and heavy electrical gear.
• Taiwan's factories are being pushed up the value chain as global supply chains get rebuilt, making design and simulation tools a must-have rather than a nice-to-have.
• Industry 4.0 orders are already booked into the first quarter of next year, with shipments due to land before year-end.

Outlook: The second half looks stronger still, with steady CAE growth and a wave of Industry 4.0 shipments hitting the books during the busy season.