Mar 07, 2009
Biz, Products, & Exhibitors soar to new level as …
TIMTOS 2009 wraps up roaring success!
Taipei Taiwan, March 7, 2009 – TIMTOS 2009 (The 14th Taipei Int’l Machine Tool Show) wrapped up dazzling success March 7 with acclaim from across the machine industry. This 6-day exhibition from March 2 to March 7 brought together the entire industry like none other by mobilizing every inch of Halls 1, 2 and 3 of the Taipei World Trade Center, and the newly completed double level NANGANG Exhibition Hall.
The 895 exhibitors occupied 4,871 booths, 26% and 75% increases respectively on last year’s show. In addition TIMTOS 2009 welcomed nearly 39,000 domestic visitors, a 37% increase on the 2007 show. There was also an impressive 4,232 overseas buyers at the show, an 1.2% increase from last time and an achievement largely due to the aggressive promotion by TAITRA and the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ overseas representative offices and the endeavors of TAMI (the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry) who all went all out to publicize TIMTOS at other leading international exhibitions around the world.
With most international machine tool shows in the current recession registering declines in turnout, the 1.2% increase in foreign buyers achieved by TIMTOS is seen as being a major success.
The largest contingents of overseas visitors were from China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the U.S. respectively; buyers from emerging markets accounted for around 30% of the total. Exhibitors reported strong interest from buyers and most felt their participation in TIMTOS 2009 had been well worth the effort.
Leading Taiwanese companies exhibited at this year’s TIMTOS included Hartford, VICTOR Taichung, FAIR FRIEND GROUP, Yeong Chin Machinery, Tongtai, Quaser, Awea, Chevalier, CHMER EDM, Kent, Dahlih, Supertec, Far East Machinery, Seiyi, Chin Fong, Jeng Jih, Goodway, Tailift, Shin Wu, and Golden Sun. TIMTOS gave these firms the opportunity to showcase their impressive R&D results and the outstanding quality of their products. Most of the companies exhibiting at the show reported very positive results, with many companies securing on-site orders. Such firms included FAIR FRIEND GROUP, San Feng, Far East Machinery, Jinn Fa, WEY YII, QuickTech, You Ji, and ROUNDTOP MACHINERY, among others. Sharon Yang, an Assistant Manager at You Ji Machine Industrial Co., Ltd., reported that You Ji had done very well at this year’s TIMTOS, securing orders worth around US$1 million from buyers in Turkey and Switzerland. Chevalier Machine Tools President Michael Shin said that, although his company had not secured any definite orders, they were confident that the leads they had made at the show would lead to new orders in the near future. Shih noted that TIMTOS has evolved into an important platform for communication, and that there are few other exhibitions where one could hope to meet so many major trading companies, distributors and even end-users in such a short space of time.
It is not just the exhibitors who expressed a positive view of TIMTOS 2009; overseas buyers were also impressed by the wide range of products on display. Steven Ortner, President of the U.S. based corporation Absolute Machine Tools, stated that “The results surpassed my expectations. We have had the chance to meet up with lots of old customers, like You Ji, Tongtai and Golden Sun. We anticipate that the passage into law of the Energy Improvement and Extension Act in the U.S. in 2008 will boost demand for wind-power electricity generation, and so last year we started importing a considerable amount of equipment from Taiwan.” Absolute Machine Tools is the U.S. distributor for many Taiwanese machine tool manufacturers; the Energy Improvement and Extension Act forms part of the U.S. government’s US$700 billion bailout plan, and is expected to stimulate the development of the wind power industry and other forms of renewable energy.
Eduardo Bush of Argentina’s Himaq S.R.L. (who is also a director of CARMAHE, the Argentinean Machine Tool Association), pointed out that TIMTOS is a world-renowned trade show, and that Taiwan’s machine tool industry has an international reputation for the precision and stability of its products and for reasonable prices. Bush noted that, as most Taiwanese machine tool manufacturers are small and medium enterprises, they are very flexible, and able to respond rapidly to changes in demand; he said that he had been particularly impressed by the integrity and efficiency of Taiwanese firms, and by their commitment to ongoing innovation and R&D. Bush said that, faced with the current global economic downturn, Taiwanese machine tool manufacturers should concentrate on “working smarter” rather than “working harder”. He pointed out that few Taiwanese companies have experienced this kind of downturn before, but that Argentinean companies have a lot of experience in this area; he warned that the economic situation was unlikely to soon improve and that the important thing was to stay calm and focused, and treat the downturn as a learning experience.
The trade meetings organized by TAITRA for TIMTOS 2009 was attended by overseas buyers such as Korea’s MJ Global and NC Tech Solution, Ukraine’s Batex, India’s Rane TRW Steering Systems, Malaysia’s Kobeco Machine Tools, U.S. company Vanguard Machinery International, Australia’s Advanced Robot Technology, Brazil’s Stelltis, and Spain’s Danobat. All of them were full of praise for this year’s TIMTOS; they were particularly impressed by the wide range of products on display, and felt that TIMTOS had already succeeded in establishing itself as a world-class trade show. TAITRA’s 55 overseas offices invited foreign companies to send representatives to attend the Trade Procurement Meetings, where they were able to engage in one-to-one discussions with Taiwanese machine tool manufacturers. In all, 62 companies from 23 different countries attended more than 500 trade meetings which are projected to have generated more than US$30 million in business.
To encourage manufacturers to focus on ongoing innovation and the development of new products, this year’s TIMTOS included an Award for Excellence in Research and Innovation. A total of 14 products received awards. These included Far East Machinery’s BMC-250T horizontal boring and milling machine, VICTOR Taichung’s VTURN-X200 multi-tasking machine tool, Soco Machinery’s CNC tube and bar machining center, Wele Mechatronic’s UG550 universal gantry type machining center, Top Work Industry’s TG-5 Plus CNC tool grinder with robot loading system, and Dah Lih’s DMT-500 multi-task vertical machining center. These award-winning devices embody the cutting-edge technology that characterizes the state-of-the-art machine tool industry in Taiwan.
The next TIMTOS, which will be held in March 2011 and is expected to take the exhibition to even greater heights of quality and business opportunities, especially since it was likely be held after economic recovery.
Get set for TIMTOS 2011!
Source:TAITRA