Young Quick-Tech Merges With Older Tongtai

New synergies will help to penetrate global machine-tool markets

To accommodate the rapid growth it has enjoyed since its establishment 15 years ago, Quick-Tech Machinery Co., one of Taiwan's specialist manufacturers of CNC (computerized numerically controlled) machine tools, inaugurated a new modern production facility adjacent to its original factory last July. With four production lines, the new facility has 3,200 pings of floor space on a 5,800-ping plot of land.

The new production facility drew intense attention from the Tongtai Machine & Tool Co., which was founded about a half century ago and was listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in September 2000. Tongtai's president, J.H. Yen, convinced Quick-Tech's managing director K.C. Jacky Huang to release a controlling interest in his company and allow it to become a member of the Tongtai Group.

Founded in 1996, Quick-Tech is known as a pioneer in the production of complex automatic lathes and has sold its products to more than 30 nations including the U.S., Germany, Italy, France, South Africa, Hong Kong, and China.

The company offers a complete range of highly economical, highly efficient automated processing solutions. All of its products provide practicality in tandem with a streamlined European-style appearance.

Merger Effects
Huang says the merger with the larger Tongtai is a win-win situation for both sides, as Quick-Tech specializes in marketing strategy and Tongtai is one of Taiwan's most experienced manufacturers of specialized machine tools. As a member of the Tongtai Group, Quick-Tech will be able to speed up its development of more sophisticated manufacturing skills by gaining access to the group's advanced manufacturing and management techniques. For his part, Huang has promised to help the Tongtai Group boost its presence in the international marketplace.

Other major members of the Tongtai Group include the Honor Seiki Co., which focuses on the production of vertical lathes, and the Asia Pacific Elite Corp., which specializes in the development of vertical and five-axis machining centers. The group will show off its overall clout at the upcoming 2011 Taipei International Machine Tool Show, slated for March 1-6 at the Taipei World Trade Center.

Tongtai has set up a technology development and marketing center that provides group members with cloud-computing management for their different product fields.

Global Presence
“Taiwan's machine-tool manufacturers are too small to exert their strength in the international marketplace,” comments Huang. “The only way for them to boost their global presence is to form large conglomerates through mergers and acquisitions. Even the big machine-tool manufacturers in other parts of the world, including DMG of Germany and Mori Seiki of Japan, are developing in the direction of large groups so that they can make use of their consolidated synergies.”

In Huang's eyes, following the long-term development of such industries as motorcycles, automobiles, electronics and PCB (printed circuit board) drilling, which need a lot of machine tools for their production operations, Taiwan has an abundant number of talented technicians needed by the machine-tool industry.

Aiming to position itself as one of the world's top-tier manufacturers of machine tools, Tongtai has mapped out a “10-billion-dollar” plan targeting consolidated annual sales of NT$10 billion in the near future.

Huang says that development into a conglomerate will give Tongtai a great opportunity to boost production efficiency and become a top-tier manufacturer by carrying out a joint marketing strategy for its member companies. “To cope with the fast-changing external operating climate,” Huang asserts, “manufacturers of machine tools have to switch their orientation from technology to marketing, and formulate strategies that can boost them onto the world stage in an effective way.”

Tongtai has set up an R&D center along with numerous business units, including special-purpose machine tools, PCB drilling machines, lathes, horizontal machining centers, and processing, so as to make the best use of its group resources.

Huang says joining the Tongtai Group will help Quick-Tech save years in boosting its global presence, as the group has established an impressive amount of machining data that can be used in developing practical production equipment.

Service Orientation
Ever since its inception, Quick-Tech offered dedicated services to customers all over the world. It has set up sales agents in Germany, Italy, France, the U.S., Sweden, Turkey, South Africa, and some Asian nations.

Along with its price-competitive products, Quick-Tech also provides round-the-clock online services to help foreign customers resolve production problems.

Based on the principle of prompt and dedicated services, Quick-Tech continuously cooperates with customers around the world to create a win-win situation and develop more business opportunities with its unique management system.