Hurco reveals expansionary plans in South East Asia

Wai Yip Lee, General Manager of Hurco (S.E. Asia) Pte Ltd

Hurco is going through an expansionary and upgrading phase in South East Asia. In an interview Wai Yip Lee, General Manager of Hurco (S.E. Asia) Pte Ltd told Kathryn Gerardino-Elagio of International Metalworking News for Asia (IMNA) how the company is working proactively with partners in various markets to establish new technical centres for showcasing existing and new Hurco control technologies to end-users. Wai Yip revealed a series of upgrades being made to Hurco’s machining centres and lathes to enhance performance and introduction of new software features to make programming easier and more efficient.

IMNA: I knew you had an open house in Thailand sometime in May, how was the response? Did you launch any new machining centers?

Wai Yip: The open house held at our distributor, Thaimach’s showroom, was well attended by more than 60 visitors across various industries.  We worked alongside Thaimach’s key partners: Hexagon Group and Jaguura to showcase two units of Hurco Machining Centres, three units of Jaguura grinding centres and Hexagon range of metrology products.  We also had 6 other partners present to showcase their exhibits and present their products in a series of seminars.  The major brands represented at this open house include: Blaser Swisslube, Mitsubishi Hard Metal, Haimer, TRIAG, VERO software.

We take this opportunity to launch our new 3D Solid Model Import and 3D DXF Transfer software during this open house to demonstrate how our controller continue to innovate to improve customer’s productivity.

IMNA: This year, will you have another round of open house in Vietnam and Indonesia. Do you agree these open houses help you stay close to your customers and understand the different markets in SEA?

Wai Yip: We are planning two more open houses at our distributors’ technical centres in Q4 2019: ATP in Hanoi and PT Aransa in Jakarta.  These two new facilities will house two Hurco machines, a MAX5 demo console unit, critical spare parts, and relevant tools to facilitate machine demos and test-cuts.  The technical centre will act as a platform to reach out to end-users in these markets so that they could better understand the important link between our proprietary Winmax controller with the machines.  For a start, end-users can see how Hurco conversational programming could improve their productivity by reducing their set-up and programming time for high-mix, low volume parts.  For advance users, the Hurco MAX5 control is capable of processing large programs with complicated tool path for complex part geometries, such as high-speed machining and simultaneous 5-axis operations.

On a side note, I have also ensured that each technical centre is well equipped with its own coffee machine so that our customers can always enjoy a good cuppa over a business discussion or a machine demo.

IMNA: This open house concept seems to work well. What countries experienced most growth last year?

Wai Yip: We have seen encouraging sales growth in Singapore and Vietnam in the past year.  The growth from Singapore, a matured market, has been attributed to the growing interest and the adoption of 5-axis technology.  Meanwhile, our new partners in Vietnam have allowed us to engage the end-users more effectively so that we could understand their local requirements.  We will continue to work closely with our partners by investing more resources to support our growing customer base in Vietnam.

IMNA: You are promoting 5-axis CNC machining centers in the region. Do you see growth potential in this area for Hurco? Do you have plans to introduce new 5-axis models or expand the series?

Wai Yip: 5 axis machining centers have been the fastest growing product line in Hurco for the past 5 years, since we introduced our first 5-axis machine 16 years ago.   The adoption rate of 5-axis technology has increased significantly over the years as end-users have gradually learn of the benefits and requirements of 5-axis technology through an industry wide push by machine tool and control builders, CAM software, cutting tools and accessories suppliers.  The shortening product life cycles and the dynamic economic environment have also resulted in an increase application of 5-axis machining for R&D, prototyping and batch production.

We believe that 5-axis machining centers will remain a core part of the Hurco machine offering and we will continue to expand our product range to include larger and faster 5-axis machines.  The recently launched VCX600i Cantilever style 5-axis machining center features key enhancements such as a high-speed motorised spindle, direct torque tables, absolute encoders and fast cutting feed rates.

IMNA: You mentioned 3D Solid Model Import last time. Based from reports it was a huge success in IMTS 2018, have you introduced this here in South East Asia? Please describe the functions briefly and what the benefits are.

Wai Yip: We have officially launched the 3D Solid Model Import in SEA and will organise a series of workshops in various markets to promote its features and benefits.  The take-up rate for 3D solid model import software for new Hurco machines has been overwhelming (close to 50% for a key market like Germany) which is a good indication of its popularity.  The 3D solid model import essentially allows a machinist to create a Hurco conversational program on our Winmax Control with a “few clicks” on the 3D STEP model.  The profile of the part is automatically captured without having to program each line, contour or hole position.  For 5-sided machining, the transform plane feature has been simplified to a few clicks on the 3D model to define and move the part reference and transform the original work plane to the next work plane.  This means that the end-user will be able to reduce their programming time further with a 3D STEP file input and navigate multiple-side programming with ease without the hassle of understanding the complex G codes.

IMNA: Speaking of 4.0, what are some of the biggest challenges of Industry 4.0 for you as a machine tool manufacturer? Some people would rather stick with “established” forms of production, for instance, those who simply do not want to introduce fully automated manufacturing and smart factories? Would you try to push them to go with the flow?

Wai Yip: The biggest challenge in my opinion is to align and prepare our team to meet the needs and demands of automation and smart manufacturing.  More importantly, we aim to assist our customers (especially from the Small & Medium Enterprise segment) to bridge their knowledge gap towards automation.  A small job shop could take the first step towards automation by adding a collaborative robot to their existing Hurco machine(s) and utilise the in-built Hurco Job List software to schedule their programs for machining, with minimal investment.  This could help to remove their psychological barrier that automation is a lengthy (somewhat painful) process that involves substantial investments in both financial and operational resources, which may be seen as an overkill for their small business.

Business owners and management must embrace technology to solve the prevailing manpower issues such as the lack of skilled workers and escalating costs.  In order to stay competitive, process improvements could be implemented to automate the mundane, recurring tasks so that your best machinist can work on jobs requiring higher skill proficiency or develop new skillsets. The automation process could be scaled upwards at a later stage to incorporate smart manufacturing with integrated production data analytics as company progresses, based on their specific needs.

IMNA: Lastly, what are the company’s initiatives for increasing productivity and efficiency in the shop floor, your future plans and strategies for the South East Asia market?

Wai Yip: Hurco will continue to upgrade our control and software technology to improve the user experience through simplifying the programming process for increasing complicated parts.  Our engineering team has recently created a video: “Alexa meets Hurco” to showcase the power of connectivity and automation that is possible with Hurco machines.  We are actively exploring new and innovative ways to integrate Hurco machines with various automation platforms to future-proof our product development.

Hurco SEA will continue to reach out to our customers and end-users through a series of targeted events, specifically tailored for each market, so that we can offer new machines and software to raise customers’ productivity thereby improving their overall profitability.