TMTS is growing in popularity, Taiwanese machine builders are on the rise

Last year’s edition of the Taiwan Machine Tools Show (TMTS) – one of the two major machine tool exhibitions in Taiwan, took place in the beginning of November (7–11). The city of Taichung, referred to as “the heart of the Taiwanese machine tool industry”, once again became the center of attraction for the machine tools and accessories business in this part of Asia. The exhibition, started in 2010 and organized by the Taiwan Machine Tool Builders’ Association (TMBA), is held biannually. Its popularity, both among exhibitors and visitors, is growing with every edition.

In his official speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibition Jui-Hsiung Yan, Chairman of the Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders’ Association (TMBA), announced that the overall exhibition scale of the TMTS 2018 and the number of exhibitors have reached record high and an increase is 8% compared to the previous editions.

The event in numbers: 720 exhibitors, 4300 booths in the area of 91 000 square meters, 4 exhibition halls and 85 000 visitors.

The exhibition was formally inaugurated by country officials, among which the Premier of Taiwan Lai Ching-te, the Mayor of Taichung Lin Chia-lung, the Minister of Science and Technology of Taiwan Chen Liang-gee, the Chairman of the Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders’ Association (TMBA) Jui-Hsiung Yan, many business and diplomacy representatives, etc.

The organizers held a press conference for the numerous specialized international press, at which the Chairman Jui-Hsiung Yan and the Secretary General of TMBA Carl Huang answered the questions of journalists from different parts of the world - China, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, USA, Russia, Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Italy, etc. Bulgaria was traditionally represented by a journalist of TLL Media Publishing House.

The interest of foreign exhibitors to the show is constantly growing, organizers proudly stated. Last year’s edition of TMTS attracted as exhibitors leading companies from Europe, Japan and the USA, including FANUC, DMG-MORI, Mazak, Hexagon Metrology and many others. The largest and most prominent Taiwanese machine tools and accessories manufacturers, including TONGTAI, HIWIN, GOODWAY, FAIR FRIEND GROUP, VICTOR, DELTA, AWEA, YCM, FALCON, CHMER, HABOR, were traditionally among the exhibitors.

The platform showcased truly remarkable machines and impressive technologies presented on thoroughly designed booths. The noisy machine exposition was carefully balanced by impressive orchid compositions according to local traditions, found almost in every pavilion. Among the companies, whose exhibition presence was most interesting, were also YEONG CHIN, FAR EAST и LNC.

From precision to smart machinery

Taiwanese machine tools and accessories builders have long been famous with their reliable products at affordable prices. However, this is far from enough for the highly ambitious manufacturers from the island.

They show a distinct will to expand their positions in the field of high-end technologies for the machine tool sector. There is a look to the future; the cooperation between the business and students, young professionals and research centers was clearly demonstrated at the exhibition.
Last year’s theme was “Manufacture Linking, Activate the Future”. The most advanced trends in metalworking and metal cutting machines were being discussed literally at every booth.

Taiwanese exhibitors were showcasing their achievements in global intelligent connectivity of the manufactured machine tools as well as complete solutions for smart production planning. TMTS 2018 was another proof that manufacturers are constantly and notably striving for more and more markets, niches and territories, creating trade links and structures all over the world.

The main manufacturing sectors currently targeted by the Taiwanese companies are: automotive, aerospace, railroad, high-tech products, dies and molds, as well as all kinds of machine parts manufacturing.

“In response to the trend of Industry 4.0, the government has actively led Taiwan to upgrade from “precision machinery” to “smart machinery”. This has created more job opportunities and helped expand the output of the whole plant, and driving central Taiwan to become the capital of smart machinery.

Through the integration of machine tool manufacturers and technical service businesses, new solutions are developed to provide innovative, customized, intelligent and brand-name products and services”, Chairman Jui-Hsiung Yan said at the exhibition opening.

“Today, most leading companies of Taiwan’s machine tool industry have spurred into “smart machinery” with more smart components, single-machine intelligence, compounding, intelligence of the entire line and intelligence of the whole plant.

In addition, customized software and human-machine interface are bringing more differentiation and creating more production value to machines. As the industry, the government, the academic and research institutes work together, machine tool and component manufacturers can join forces to become the best partners for global manufacturing in the domain of smart manufacturing”, he added in conclusion.

Exhibitor highlights

•  FFG- FAIR FRIEND GROUP is a leading technology group uniting 37 brands and 50 production facilities worldwide.

In the picture - one of the leading centers of the LEADWELL company.

• TONGTAI - a part of the leading TTGroup, showcased 4 of its best-selling machine tool models.

In the picture - the vertical machining center VP-8.

• A highlight in VICTOR TAICHUNG`s presentation were the company’s machines working in a system, tended by service robots.

In the picture - Vc-P76 with a 10 kg pick-and-place cobot.

• YCM or YEONG CHIN MACHINERY presented its latest machine tools and solutions for the metalworking sector and put a special emphasis on their smart functionalities, among the highlights was the company’s newest IoT solution called i-Direct.

• The main attraction in the exposition of the leading manufacturer DELTA ELECTRONICS was the demonstration of a working solution, integrating two CNC lathes, a vertical machining center and a pick-and-place robot.

• LNC focused visitors` attention at its SMB (smart machine box), equipped with intelligent sensors and a cloud platform connection in order to demonstrate its capabilities to provide a complete solution for intelligent manufacturing.