TMTS 2014, the Machine Tool show hosted by the Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA), proved to be an innovative platform integrated with a strong manufacturing supply chain.

The TMTS 2014 - the Taiwan International Machine Tool Show, at the Greater Taichung International Expo Centre (GTIEC) was officially declared open by Mr Ma Ying-jeou, the President of Taiwan (officially called the Republic of China), on the morning of November 5th 2014, amidst a gathering of TMBA office bearers and exhibitors who formed the Who's Who of Taiwan's famed machine tools industry. TMTS 2014 was timed strategically just after the JIMTOF 2014 show in Japan, to take advantage of the global visitors who had travelled East and the expectation did not disappoint as several overseas visitors had planned their itineraries to combine the two events.

Later, addressing the members of the international press present on the occasion, Mr Eric Chuo, Chairman - TMBA, and also chairman of Hiwin Technologies Corp., stressed upon the status of TMTS as not only the largest machine tool show in Taiwan in 2014, but also an important platform to demonstrate the competitiveness of Taiwanese machine tool industry. Holding the event in Taichung is significant since the town is the hub of Taiwan's machine tool and accessory industry. This writer met two professionals from the Czech Republic, engaged in the machine tool trade, who used the occasion to plan a two-week itinerary to visit several machine tool and ancillaries' manufacturers after the show. They were by no means the only visitors with such plans.

As reported earlier in Industrial Products Finder (September 2014), TMTS 2014 was highlighted under two main themes: "5-axis Machine Tool Cutting Applications" and "Servitization in Manufacturing". Most major exhibitors had live demos of the performance and application potential of their latest 5-axis machine tools, which are what the aerospace and automotive industries are increasingly banking on in the lean production technology era. Today the global trend in machine tool applications has moved away from mere products to solutions where customisation is the key. So many machine tool builders value the concept of manufacturing-as-a-service, in order to satisfy customer demand.

With growing shortage of labour (in developed countries) in general, and of skilled operators in particular, the use of intelligent automation and sophisticated robots is the norm rather than an exception. Instead of the usual clutter and paraphernalia associated with a noisy shopfloor, the modern factory is a quiet place with orderly functioning of robotic cells where anything that can be automated has already been done. With Germany leading the initiative for Industry 4.0 to create factories of the future, machine tool makers now have to take automation to the next level and visitors could catch glimpses of many such technologies on display at TMTS 2014.

All major machine tool manufacturers of Taiwan were represented at TMTS 2014, among them, the Fair Friends Group, which had occupied the largest exhibition space aggregating 250 booths, Hiwin Technologies Corp with 100 booths, Tong Tai, Goodway, Awea, Kao Ming, Wele, Chmer, Falcon, Far East and Chin Fong, and others. FFG had a comprehensive presence with display from five major subsidiaries/brands Fair Friend Enterprise (Feeler) for automotive & automation, Leadwell for medical equipment, SANCO for large parts machining, Equiptop for high precision grinding, and Ecoca for ICT technology. Similarly the M-Team - an alliance of four leading machine tool companies, Victor Taichung, Yeong Chin, Quaser and Litz - and 20 accessory companies occupied 332 booths to demonstrate the developments and technologies that are a result of this alliance.

Among the major accessory suppliers were companies like GSA, Keyarrow, Tung Pei, Yuan Jun Fong, Earth Chain, Vertex, Gifu, Tanshing, Tan Jia, Di Chun Iron, Posa, Habor and German Tech Auto, with their latest products and solutions.

As a major exporter of machine tools to the global markets - Taiwan is currently ranked 4th largest machine tool exporting country in the world - a major machine tool event in the country like the TMTS naturally attracts visitors from all over the world. 76% of machine tools manufactured in Taiwan are exported. China accounts for the largest machine tool exports from Taiwan (34%) followed by USA (11%), followed by Turkey, Germany, Indonesia, Korea, Russia, Malaysia and The Netherlands. India too is a significant importer of machine tools and accessories from Taiwan.

Among the exhibitors in Hall 3 was Peter Dias, CEO, Unitech Metalforming Technologies Taiwan Co Ltd (UMTT). A former entrepreneur from Pune engaged in manufacturing activity, Dias is now based in Taiwan and helps Indian entrepreneurs in metalworking businesses source integrated metalworking solutions from Taiwanese companies. Dias is a passionate advocate of adopting affordable technology from Taiwan by Indian companies and has helped many enterprises do exactly that, in the process saving cost as well as resources, increasing productivity manifold. "Taiwan is a small country and is not a 'threat' to India in any sense. It is willing to offer technology virtually free of cost but there are political obstacles in doing so," says Dias. But he remains an optimist and is also confident that more and more Indian companies will see the benefits of doing so.

Exhibitors were please with the business generated during the 5-day event, landing better-than-expected orders. Chairman D H Yang of the Goodway Group said they received, between the three group companies, approximately NT$400 million (US$13 million) of orders at the show, better than the NT$330 million (US$11 million) expected. Similarly 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). 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 centres. Hiwin Technologies Corp 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 total visitor count, according to the organisers, was 72,320 (Local: 69,752; Overseas: 2,568). The overseas visitors came from 66 countries. There were 106 visitors from India. Manu Ganesh, Director of Bangalore based GPY Machine Tools Pvt Ltd, a representative for several global machine tool manufacturers including WELE Mechatronic Co Ltd, Taiwan, was visiting the exhibition looking for new and innovative products. There were several others, entrepreneurs and traders, who were there scouting for opportunities as well as inspiration. After all, if Taiwan can do it, so can others!