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TIMTOS - Taipei International Machine Tool Show 2009

TIMTOS (Taipei International Machine Tool Show) 2009 unfolds March 2 to 7 to underscore the promise of Taiwan's massive machine tool industry which has maintained steady growth in the face of global slowdown. In fact, Taiwan now tops world output in vertical machining centers & double column machining centers.

To fit in all the progress, innovation, along with its army of global participants, the show has had to greatly expand. Not only does the venue include its classic space in TWTC (Taipei World Trade Center) Halls 1, 2, and 3 but it also takes in the newly built NANGANG Exhibition Hall. TIMTOS isn't only Taiwan's largest and most specialized metal processing equipment show; it's also one of the top three international machine tool shows in Asia.

The number of exhibitors has been growing steadily, states its organizers, TAITRA (Taiwan External Trade Development Council) and TAMI (Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry). The current show hosts 895 domestic and international exhibitors who are occupying 4,871, up by 26% and 75% respectively from the 713 exhibitors and 2,778 booths of the previous show (TIMTOS 2007), making this year's show the biggest ever. Fifteen countries are taking part this year; Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, Korea, India, Switzerland, Israel, Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Taiwan. The degree of internationalization is 20%.

Major domestic manufacturers are all taking part including Hartford, VICTOR Taichung, Yeong Chin Machinery, Tongtai, Quaser, Awea, Chevalier, CHMER EDM, Kent, Dahlih, SUPERTEC, FEMCO, Seyi, Chin Fong, Jeng Jih, Dees, Ing Yu, Forwell, Tailift, Shin Wu, C-Double, Hiwin, Fedek, Di Chun, Golden Sun, Keyarrow, Gifu and Habor. Famous international machine tool producers attending the show include Okuma, Mazak, DMG, Yasda, Jtekt, Toyoda, Toyo, Sodick, Tornos, Mitsubishi, Trumpf, Kuka, Fanuc, Siemens Heidenhain, Sony and Bosch.

Taiwan's Machine Tool Industry - Exports still enjoy moderate growth

Taiwan's machine tool industry has a history of about 60 years. Having developed flexibility in manufacturing and being reliably resilient in market change, the industry excels by producing custom-made tools which are good value for the money. Realizing synergies from its cluster effect, the industry has long been valued by both domestic and international customers. Taiwan's machine tool exports totaled US$3.49 billion in the first 11 months of 2008, up 10.9% over the year-ago period. Exports have been growing moderately especially to major export markets in China, the U.S. and Germany.

The output value of Taiwan's machine tool industry places it behind Germany, Japan, China and Italy, a fact that makes Taiwan the only major machine tool manufacturing country without the backing of a strong automobile industry. Taiwan's machine tool manufacturers have developed flexible marketing strategies and resilience in adapting to changes in market demand over the years. As a result, they are capable of swiftly supplying the world with premium machine tools and accepting ODM and OEM orders from developed countries like Germany, U.S. and Japan.

TIMTOS 2009 to showcases the hottest in tech, trends & innovation

In recent years, the global machine tool industry has been developing high technology products with features such as multi-tasking, high speed, high precision, high production efficiency, process streamlining and energy conservation. And with these TIMTOS 2009 will stage a virtual harvest in the past year's endeavors in R&D.

Some key areas to look out for at the show include:

1. Multi-tasking integrated machine tools with milling function: Many more types are on show. These types of tools can reduce overall processing time and substantially raise work efficiency and precision.

2. Faster ATC, APC and high speed built-in spindles: These tools can help the manufacturer greatly boost work efficiency.

3. Progress in high rigidity and precision designs and use of new materials body structures to enhance overall levels of rigidity and precision.

4. Large-scale and higher priced machine tools: More are on show this year.

The breakthroughs described above are evident in most products taking part in this year's competition for R&D innovation in machine tools. Presented as part of TIMTOS 2009 they include the following types: vertical and horizontal machining center, high-speed milling machining center, compact 5-axis multicut machining center, multi turning-milling and grinding machine, CNC multi-function machine tool, ultra-precision micro-processing machining center, multi-axis milling-and-drilling multiple EDM, 5-Axis CNC tool grinder, CNC precision surface grinder with robot loading system, intelligent industrial robot and energy-saving machining center.

New events & seminars herald new prospects for the industry

To help manufacturers and purchasers grasp the latest developments of the machine tool industry, the organizers are featuring nearly 30 show activities during the event, in cooperation with industry and academic groups. These include the following seminars: Future Tendency of NCT Moulds, Sheet Metal Systems for Energy Conservation and CO2 Emission Reduction, Cross-Strait Trade and Investment - How to Transform Crisis into Opportunity, Technology Seminar, Servo-Turret Technology in Multi Task Machines, The Latest CNC Technology Control State-of-the-art 5 Axis and Compound Machines, Exhibition of the Outcome Research & Development on New Products of Machine Tool Components, Linear Motion Product Technologies Development and Applications, Super Precision Angular Contact Ball Bearings for Spindle in Machine Tools. Other events include TIMTOS 2009 - Trade Meeting, TIMTOS 2009 Press Conference and TIMTOS 2009 Reception and the Awards Ceremony for the Taiwan Machine Tool Awards for Excellence in Research & Innovation. The awards are in their seventh time and are organized by TMTF (Taiwan Machine Tool Foundation), TAITRA and TAMI. The organizers hope these endeavors will inspire machine tool makers to continue their effort in R&D and innovation, bring added value to products and enhanced international competitiveness. TIMTOS 2009 is taking place in four exhibition halls. In order to encourage domestic and international visitors to check out the entire show in all the exhibition halls, the organizers are holding a gift activity for first time for visitors who collect stamps from all five TAITRA lounges in the five exhibition areas.

Mobilizing Buyers & Teaming up with Academia

To help the domestic machine tool industry expand their international markets, TAITRA mobilized all its 53 overseas offices to help invite major buyers to come to TIMTOS 2009. Buyers with annual revenue of at least US$30 million that are coming to the show include Siemens, MAG Industrial Automation Systems and the Morris Group from the U.S., Honda, Kyocera, C.K.K and Yuasa Trading from Japan, Grupo Danobat, Fagor Automations and Soraluce from Spain, Rane TRW Steering Systems from India, Huebner GmbH from Germany, Pama from Italy, Machinery and Fastems from Finland. All of them will participate in the joint trade meetings that extend from 1 PM to 5 PM on March 3rd.

Added business opportunities are coming with visiting groups organized by the Argentina Association of Machine Tools, Capital Goods and Services for Production, the Vietnam Association of Mechanical Engineering and the Japan Machine Tool Importer's Association. To impress international visitors, Taipei City Government especially sponsored MRT one-day tickets, Taipei 101 observatory tickets and National Palace Museum tickets. TAITRA is also laying on tours during the exhibition period so that business visitors can fully experience the beauty of Taipei City in addition to visiting the show.



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