Orders Received at 2014 TMTS Drive Optimism of Taiwan's Machine Tool Makers

Landing better-than-expected orders at the Taiwan International Machine Tool Show 2014, held  Nov. 5-9 in Taichung, central Taiwan, Taiwan's leading machine-tool builders are upbeat about  business in Q1, 2015.

Chairman D.H. Yang of the Goodway Group said its Goodway Machine Corp. and Awea Mechantronic Co., Ltd. have received approximately NT$400 million (US$13 million) of orders at the show, better than the NT$330 million (US$11 million) expected.

Falcon Machine Tools Co., Ltd. won some NT$200 million (US$6.6 million) of orders at the show mainly from mainland Chinese makers of wheels.

Tongtai Machine & Tool Co., Ltd. estimates having landed over NT$100 million (US$3.3 million) of orders, to which chairman J.H. Yen attributes mostly to steady  recovery of global automobile and aircraft industries, with the new orders raising the company's undelivered orders to NT$2.2 billion (US$7.3 million).

The company plans to construct a factory by the end of this year in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, to meet rising demand.

Victor Taichung Machinery Works Co., Ltd. won at least NT$100 million (US$3.3 million) of orders at the show for around 40 machines, including lathes and machining centers.

Hiwin Technologies Corp., a major maker of linear guideways and ball bearing screws, received ample inquires from foreign buyers about medical robots, which are CE marked and likely to be approved in mainland China early next year.

The show hosted 650 exhibitors occupying 3,700 booths to be  54% bigger over the last edition. According to the organizer, the Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessories Builders' Association (TMBA), the show drew 125,000 visitors, of which 72,000 being buyers and industry insiders.

Goodway's Yang ascribes such good turnout mostly to the scheduling of the show: the Japan International Machine Tool Fair 2014, held Oct. 30-Nov. 4, made it easy for many foreign buyers, mostly from China, Russia and Japan, to fly to Taiwan after visiting the Japan show in one breath.

TMBA Chairman Eric Chuo, also  chairman of Hiwin, estimates the show to create NT$6 billion (US$200 million) of business for Taiwan's machine tool industry. (KL)