Bystronic sees Malaysia step up to more advanced technologies

By: Kathryn Gerardino-Elagio

Norbert Seo, Bystronic Senior Vice President Market Division Asia and Australia

International Metalworking News for Asia (IMNA) sat down with Norbert Seo, Bystronic Senior Vice President Market Division Asia and Australia, during the recent METALTECH 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Through the course of the interview, Norbert shared his thoughts regarding Malaysia’s potential especially in terms of high level technology. “Customers in this market are big clients who are demanding for high-end, high-quality and high-productivity machines. Therefore, we work hard to achieve their requirements and demands,” he explained.

The manufacturing sector in Malaysia continues to adopt new technologies to help increase visibility in both production and process. Having more quality in both areas through technology drives better value control, such as fewer defects and overall business efficiency.

Laser cutting prowess on display

In an effort to provide high-performance technologies to customers in Malaysia, Bystronic exhibited two laser machines: ByStar Fiber 3015 6KW and BySprint Fiber 3015 6KW, both manufactured in its headquarters in Switzerland.

“These machines are our top products in the market. The high-end allrounder is ByStar Fiber and followed by BySprint Fiber. Why are we showing these machines instead of exhibiting the smart entry solutions? It’s because Malaysia is looking for new technologies, not only low-priced production machines. That is the reason why we display the high-end products here,” Norbert explained.  

Serving the needs of today’s manufacturers who demand the highest levels of productivity is a priority for Bystronic. He expressed, “Since our customers’ demands and expectations are high, we want to fulfil them by coming up with proper solutions. That’s why we chose ByStar Fiber 3015 6KW and BySprint Fiber 3015 6KW to be featured here in Metaltech. And I’m happy to announce that we have already sold two machines.”

On-time delivery (OTD) is affected by a multitude of factors. Each factor contributes to decreasing the OTD rate, and it does not take a major problem with one area to significantly impact OTD. This problem is a combination of ill-informed promises from the machine supplier.

“The difference of our laser machines from the China brands that you see here now is that they present 10KW; but if you compare the performance from our machines, it is quite different. We can show our 10KW that is much faster than what they exhibit. Our 6KW is competitive with the 10KW of the Chinese brands, and even quicker,” Norbert added. Additionally Bystronic offers a full service package. This supports customers to increase the efficiency and process quality of all integrated Bystronic systems on the long run.

Strengthening customer support

Bystronic has distinguished itself as a premium technology leader. To showcase its commitment to its customers, the company aims to give the level of quality that is expected and required from them.

Norbert revealed, “In Malaysia, we are setting up Bystronic Malaysia with five engineers and this will be located near Kuala Lumpur. These two countries, Thailand and Malaysia are our main target for this year and next year.

Bystronic is thriving on building and fostering relationships with customers in South East Asia. According to Norbert, the company has an Experience Centre in Ho Chi Minh and sales offices in Hanoi and is now operating in the Philippines where they have a dealer who has already sold their machines.

Outside South East Asia, Bystronic signed a contract for the construction of a 3500 square meter building in Korea, which will serve as their Experience Centre. “So you see, these investments allow us to offer broader range of value-added services to our customers throughout Asia,” he stated.

New manufacturing concepts

There’s no denying the changing way machines are designed nowadays. Laser cutting machines are now digitally driven and integrated with capabilities that can dramatically reduce the cost and time of producing complex parts in today’s global manufacturing enterprises. 

Norbert described, “The machine is getting more intelligent. It shows a lot of features combined with a lot of software. But we want to offer a one-stop solution to our customers. Combining one machine to the other machine, and integrating Industry 4.0 to serve them with the right solutions.”

“We don’t just develop a machine, we develop a manufacturing landscape with integrated solutions. For example software, automation, loading and unloading, sorting, storage. And of course cutting and bending. All these together, we become a full supplier for one solution, he mentioned.

Norbert happily disclosed, “The demand for automation in Malaysia is high and to demonstrate this encouraging market, we recently supplied a fully automatic laser cutting machine integrated with loading and unloading, and with a storage to a customer.”

Facing up to challenges

Customer demands for greater performance at a lower price. As a result, machine innovators now face the challenge of building multifaceted products on budgets.  

“The market is getting tougher and the reason is price issue. Normally our customers and their end-users are asking for very competitive prices.  Aside from a viable machine price, the equipment must also be effective. For example, you have one hour time to produce 50 parts, therefore our machine must be able to manufacture 60 or 70 parts compared to our rivals. Producing excellent products is always a challenge. For this Bystronic provides productive machines that offer stability, speed and highest quality on the market,” he detailed.

Pushing the right solution

With the velocity of technology expansion, products and concepts, manufacturers must stay current and peer into the future of manufacturing.  

According to Norbert, there are a lot of new technology features today. Several powerful laser sources, such as 10, 12, 14, 15, and 20 KW. Stories about Industry 4.0 and reports that inspire manufacturers to be optimistic about the year ahead. But he suggested that customers must check and understand the solutions.

“For instance you drive a small car and you put a Porsche engine inside, so it doesn’t run well. What I mean is you have to look at the whole system and also the investment perspective. It is always easy to buy a cheaper machine; but after some time many customers are not really happy with their decision. They are disappointed of the performance of the machine. In Bystronic, we try to give our customers a better option in order for them to make the right decision. We don’t just offer them the machine and production capacity.  A high power machine is really strong, customers who require them must look for a supplier who can support and service the machine when the need arises. Bystronic is focused on providing the right solution and service to customers all over the world,” finally he said.

 ByStar Fiber

Metaltech team