EMO 2007, Haas Automation Europe's Most Successful Show Ever
The curtain falls on yet another Exposition Mondiale de la Machine Outil (EMO). With almost 170,000 visitors, it was perhaps the biggest and best yet: certainly as far as CNC machine tool builder Haas Automation is concerned.
In September, through to the end of EMO, Haas Europe had sold 555 CNC machines, resulting in year-to-date 2007 sales up 45% over the same period in 2006.
HAE's presence at this year's show was even more impressive than at the last EMO, two years earlier. In 2005, visitors were given demonstrations on 30 Haas machines. This year, there were 41 on display, with another 13 on partner booths around the fair. Two years ago the company's booth was 1300 sq. meters. At EMO '07, it was 1650 sq. meters, manned across the six days by more than 160 staff from 38 European Haas Factory Outlets (HFOs). The additional space and manpower were needed to show off the 12 new Haas machine models introduced since EMO 2005, including the compact Office Lathe and Office Mill, the highly-productive EC-400PP pallet-pool horizontal machining center, the TL-4 Toolroom Lathe and the SL-20L and SL-30L long-bed turning centers. Needless to say, all of the machines on show were busy cutting metal - not shadow-cutting. Haas machines are always demonstrated doing exactly what they're designed to do: make parts.
Aside from the launch of the company's new products, the big news at this year's show was undoubtedly the official introduction of the Haas Technical Education Centre (HTEC) program for Europe. Already a resounding success in the USA and Canada, the Haas Automation Europe HTEC program aims to create long-term alliances with European vocational training and technical colleges, universities and other manufacturing technology learning institutions. The goals: to make the latest manufacturing technology accessible to a very wide range of educational establishments, and provide students with hands-on experience in a real-world manufacturing environment.
"We intend to establish 200 such alliances in Europe by 2012," says Haas Automation Europe Managing Director, Mr. Peter Hall, a fierce advocate of grassroots investment and a co-founder of the HTEC program in the USA. "There's a worldwide shortage of skilled young people, including here in Europe. We want to help excite them, and show them how rewarding a career in manufacturing technology can be."
What else has Haas Automation achieved in the two years since EMO 2005? A 21% increase in sales - from 10,500 units to a projected 12,700 units for year-end '07, giving an anticipated turnover of $850 million USD. Overseas sales in the current year are forecast to close at around 53%, up from around 42% in '05.
Other 2007 milestones include the sale and installation of the 75,000th Haas machine, in the May, which is already old news as the final quarter of the year nears, and the delivery of the 85,000th machine becomes imminent. Helping make that number a reality are the 22 additional HFOs already opened or planned for 2007, bringing the worldwide total to 120+, with more expected for 2008 and beyond.
The past two years have also seen the opening of a new, larger Haas Asia facility in Shanghai; the completion and opening of the 4th building at the Haas factory in Oxnard, California, bringing the total covered factory space to more than 100,000 sq. meters; and the beginnings of a 2000 sq. meter expansion to the Haas Automation Europe headquarters, showroom and spare parts facility in Zaventem, near Brussels.
Haas' meteoric growth is well known in manufacturing circles, but the past two years have been particularly busy. Can any other CNC machine tool builder claim as much progress since the last EMO?
"It's not about growth for growth's sake," says Peter Hall. "Haas is successful because we deliver what customers need to do the job. We're not trying to build the lowest cost CNC machine tools. We're aiming to provide the greatest value for money, and the lowest risk of ownership. We work hard to deliver exceptional customer service, and incorporate best practices in everything we do, from designing, manufacturing and developing our products to servicing and supporting the machines in the field. As long as we do that, I think we'll continue to grow, in Europe and around the world."
