Taiwan's Makers of Machining Centers Awash in Rising Sales

The recovering global economy over the past year has enabled Taiwan's leading manufacturers of machining centers to achieve robust sales in the past several months, with the performance expected to continue for the rest of this year and most local makers claiming to have enough orders to fill production lines for at least three to five months.

Machining center is one of the most complicated categories in the metalworking machinery sector designed, manufactured in Taiwan, and Taiwan-made vertical machining centers are renowned globally for high production capability and quality. Over the past year, some manufacturers claim to have been successful in upgrading manufacturing skills by transferring technologies from making CNC (computerized numerically controlled) milling machines and CNC lathes.

Taiwan's manufacturers in this line can roll out both vertical and horizontal machining centers, due mainly to being among the easily accessible cluster of subcontractors in the central part, including suppliers of metal sheets, key components and surface treatment.

Taiwan's manufacturers of machining centers prefer to use reputable CNC devices from Fanuc, Mitsubishi, and Siemens due to high-performance with only a few using PC (personal computer)-based CNC controllers. Some veteran manufacturers admit PC-based controllers simply are inadequate for multifunctional machining centers, with the lesser controllers mainly installed in plastic injection molding machines, woodworking machines, and textile machines that require less demanding accuracy.

Exports Up Over 80%
Customs-cleared statistics compiled by the Taiwan Machine Tool Foundation (TMTF), show that Taiwan exported US$407.07 million of machining centers in the first four months of 2011, surging 81.8% from US$223.92 million in the corresponding period of last year, to which the TMTF attributes influx of orders from emerging markets such as China, whose GDP grew over 9% in the first quarter of 2011.

TMTF CEO C.C. Wang says domestic manufacturers of machining centers are seeing promising rise in orders over the past one year and the scenario is expected to continue, with the encouraging scenario blemished by such unfavorable factors as insufficient supply of key components including ball screws, CNC devices and cast iron, hence forcing many manufacturers to extend lead-time.

Expanding Product Range
With ample development experience in CNC lathes, Charles Machine Industrial Co., Ltd., the CE mark- and ISO9002-certified manufacturer of machining centers and CNC lathes and one of the few in Taiwan capable of making larger machine tools, has already developed vertical machining centers featuring boxways. Recently, the company introduced two new models of vertical machining centers equipped with linear guideways, and says it is speeding upgrading of manufacturing skill to launch higher-end machining centers to meet demand from industrialized nations.

General manager Hsieh Ping-huang says the newly introduced vertical machining centers suit processing metal parts, making molds and automotive parts.

The company says it has for over 20 years exported engine lathes or traditional manual-operated models to Europe, claiming to be the leading brand of engine lathes in Thailand., and can directly export to China, with other export outlets including Latin America, the U.S., Canada and Africa.

With a fully owned foundry, Charles has integrated production to enable totally strict QC in-house.

Hsieh says Taiwan has qualitative advantage in supplying machining centers over rivals in neighboring nations: “Taiwan can supply top-tier key components such as precision spindles for manufacturers of machining centers, which are exported to China to be mainly used in the automotive industry. Almost all key components can be fully developed in Taiwan except for CNC controllers, which are dominated by major names including Mitsubishi, Fanuc, Fagor and Siemens.

Charles also supplies “Meehanite”-certified cast iron to mainly the U.S. and Japan, with Hsieh conceding that such exports are more profitable than selling complete machines.

The recently introduced, innovative vertical machining center MVC-1680, says the maker, has very rapid feed rate, a feature that will assure its marketability to the parts-machining sector.

Technical Cooperation
As others in the field, Kamioka Corporation in Taiwan works closely with a Japanese firm specializing in electromechanical integration, whose assistance has enabled Kamioka to build reliable, high-quality machine tools, with R&D lab set up in Kobe, Japan and office in the United States to further product development and sales.

Huang Kuo-shiung, the president, found the firm in 1965 that is recognized as one of Taiwan's most specialized manufacturers of high-value-added machine tools, whose structural rigidity is seen as superior to that made by rivals.

Initially the company focused on in-house lathing, milling and grinding, but since 1986 and after moving the factory to Taichung City, the maker has been producing double-column milling machines and surface grinders that has helped enhance know-how.

A decade ago, Kamioka began designing, marketing CNC multi-tasking lathes, vertical and horizontal machining centers that are trusted to be thoroughly tested before mass production.

Detailing the QC program, Chad Huang, marketing director, says each Kamioka machine is subject to over 200 quality-assurance tests, including examination during machining, 100% ball bar tested, 12-hour actual cutting, and 120-hour-minimum actual operation before shipment. “Our products are approved by operators in mold processing, musical instruments and linear-way.”

The maker has sold some 500 VMC-1000 vertical machining centers without customer complaints and request for repair.

Marketing high-tier products under its own Kamioka brand backed by Japanese and self-developed technologies, the maker has over the past few years expanded its product line to include CNC vertical and horizontal machining centers, CNC lathes, surface grinders, CNC turning centers, machinery accessories etc.

The HMC-500 horizontal CNC machining center is capable of multisided machining and complex surface milling. This new-generation machining center combines innovative design, high-quality construction to be compact, dependable and affordable with expanded work range.

4-slide Guideway
Other notable features include a four-slide guideway, cast-iron frame with cross-beam reinforcement, powerful 15hp direct-drive, 40-taper spindle, swing-arm ATC with 24-tool capacity, all of which help achieve excellent performance while saving enormous resources.

Another innovative product recently developed is the LG-2500 series semi-gantry portal-type machining center, inspired by the semi-gantry crane and equipped with dual-driven servo motors and Heidenhain linear scales, 30-pc-tool capacity ATC, and Siemens Sinumerik 840D controller. This unit has a genuine semi-gantry construction (patented) on X, Y and Z-axis travel. Overcoming the limitations of typical double-column and gantry-type machine design, the integrated one-piece, L-shaped base allows minimized volume, good accessibility and machining control to achieve convenience and safety.

The biggest innovation of this machine tool, with 20-25% higher performance than rivals, is its heavy-duty roughing and high-speed finishing capacities, enabling molding and production of parts for aerospace, energy, and car industries.

Breaking through the limitation of typical moving-column, moving-bridge and moving-table machinery design, the machine's integrated one-piece of L-shape base with axle overhangs minimizes floor space occupied, easy accessibility and control to maximize operator safety, user-friendliness by allowing monitoring of cutting tool or loading/unloading larger workpieces.

The above features buoy Kamioka's full confidence in the popularity of the model, whose excellent versatility and efficiency satisfy increasing needs for production of molds. The company will raise capacity with a short-term goal to sell 20 to 30 such machines yearly.

High-precision Machining Centers
Campro Precision Machinery Co., Ltd., established in 2003 in Taichung City of central Taiwan, is a dynamic machinery maker set up by a team of experienced R&D and management talents, currently specializing in the development and production of CNC horizontal lathes, CNC vertical machining centers and other types of high-precision machine tools. Most of the firm's products are sold under the ‘Campro' brand but the maker also welcomes OEM/ODM (original equipment/design manufacturer) orders from abroad.

Backed by staffers with over 20 years of experience in machinery R&D, production, quality control and marketing, and after-sale services, the maker is committed to research and steady product improvement as its driving force, claiming to adopt self-developed manufacturing technologies to offer diverse products to global customers.

Currently distributing CNC horizontal lathes and CNC vertical machining centers, the company's monthly capacities are 15 to 20 CNC machine tools in Taiwan and another 12 in China, says president Kenny Tsai. Its machining centers feature 900mm to 2,200mm X-axis travel, with the former being one of the most popular in its line.

Three new models have been launched recently: CQV high-performance vertical machining center), CMV (high-speed mold making vertical machining center), and CPL (slant-bed type CNC precision lathe), which offer excellent performance to help sharpen user's competitiveness.

Its base is reinforced by A-type ribs to enhance vibration absorption and its box-type structure assures excellent rigidity. The machine structure is designed via Finite Element Analysis (FEA) method and advanced three-dimensional software. The counter-balance system is equipped with a guide rail to increase stability and minimize vibration during high feed or rapid traverse to ensure high machining accuracy.

With an R&D center in Taiwan, the company has extended production to China to better serve customers, with Shanghai as the production and marketing center and branches in Beijing municipality, Guangdong province, and Chongqing municipality.

A year and half ago, the company moved production lines to a fully-owned, 12,000 square meter plant in the Taichung Precision Machinery Park in Nantun Dist. of Taichung City, central Taiwan to help develop improved machine tools.

Machine-tool Trader
Benign Enterprise Co., Ltd. is one of Taiwan's most experienced traders of machine tools, accessories and air tools, having been mainly supplying locally-made, advanced machining centers, CNC lathes, drilling machines, milling machines and grinding machines since its inception in 1975.

Vice president David Wu says the maker has expertise to source high-precision machine tools made in Taiwan and elsewhere to meet special requirements of global customers, with the maker renowned for its own “bemato” brand.

The maker can readily ship products from either Taiwan or China according to buyer request, but currently supplies 93% of products from Taiwan with the rest from China.

“We have o option but to ship some products from China due to Taiwan's manufacturers of smaller, conventional machine tools being out-priced by rivals in China, where price are 40% lower than those made in Taiwan,” explains Wu.

“As a professional trader, we have more resources to source various machine tools than manufacturers who are production-focused. Besides, we understand the real needs of global buyers after years in the business and supplying custom-made products is one of our advantages,” says Wu.

One of Benign's keys to success is being able to work effectively with contractors, without being bogged down in production as its reliable, medium and small partners who supply high-value-added machine tools. For instance, the company has shipped several models of five-axis machining centers to an Aussie customer.

Claiming to always maintain consistent product quality to have built a sound global reputation, the company has technicians who conscientiously inspect products fully to assure reliability before shipment.

The maker has seen recovering sales in 2010 after being impacted by the 2008 global financial tsunami. “We will also see sales growth this year because of the economic recovery worldwide, but I predict sales won't return to the 1996 peak in the next three years due to the occasionally uncertain global economy,” says Wu.

Besides being a frequent participant in world-renowned machine-tool exhibitions in Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Thailand, Vietnam, Dubai and Russia, the maker will also take part in the 2011 EMO Hanover exhibition, the world's largest machine-tool fair to be staged Sept. 19-22 at the Hanover Messe in Germany.