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<\/a>Klaus-Peter Kuhnm\u00fcnch<\/p><\/div>\nThe machine tool market in Thailand, particularly, is a fiercely contested one. Leading-edge technology from Germany faces stiff competition from affordable Asian machines, which dominate the market. Thailand is the gateway to the South-East Asian economic area: gigantic growth potential, an affordable manufacturing location, a smoothly functioning infrastructure, an extensive network of component suppliers, a liberal economic system, these are facts that indicate a profitable market to enter. Thailand, however, is simultaneously a challenge and an opportunity. At least, this is how<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s precisely here that German entrepreneurs like Fries see an opportunity. With requirements for quality and productivity expected to tighten in the automotive industry and among its component suppliers, as well as in the electrical engineering sector, German vendors will be particularly well placed to establish themselves as a permanent presence on Thailand\u2019s market. Schw\u00e4bische Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik has already responded to this opportunity, and is represented in Thailand with a service partner experienced in the products concerned.
\nThailand is one of the biggest markets for machine tools
\n<\/strong>\u201cIn 2013, with around 2.5 million vehicles produced, Thailand was the world\u2019s ninth-biggest manufacturing location for automobiles,\u201d explained Klaus-Peter Kuhnm\u00fcnch, who at the VDW is responsible for the German technology symposia. This is why customers from the automotive industry and its component suppliers were particularly targeted for this event. In parallel to the country\u2019s economic upturn, the local machine tool market has also developed most impressively. In the past few years, Thailand\u2019s imports of machine tools have grown by a breath-taking 88% to reach 2.4 billion euros. This means the country is the world\u2019s fourth-largest importer of machine tools. From the German machine tool industry\u2019s viewpoint, Thailand has likewise in the past few years gained significantly in perceived importance, and continues to justify optimism for the future.
\nWullop Liwiwathanapornchai, a representative of Thailand\u2019s Ministry of Industry, views this development as highly auspicious. \u201cThe symposium comes at precisely the right time, since Thailand\u2019s industrialisation is steadily advancing. In order to drive this process successfully forward, particularly in the automotive industry, our companies need high-tech machines from Germany.\u201d
\nA thrust to challenge Japan\u2019s domination of the market
\n<\/strong>For years now, the market in Thailand has been significantly dominated by Japanese machine tool manufacturers. For them, Thailand occupies a special status, since the Japanese automotive industry is strongly positioned there. In 2013, Japan accounted for 57% of Thailand\u2019s entire machine tool imports, followed by vendors from Asia and the USA. German manufacturers ranked 6th<\/sup>, with a market share of 3%. This dominance of Japan is something the Germans will have to challenge, and fly the flag more vigorously in Thailand than hitherto.
\nHow the market position is to be sustainably improved is outlined by Andrew Parkin, Managing Director of Heller Asia: \u201cDespite Japan\u2019s strong position on the market, we are confident that with our own highly qualified workforces and our good service support capabilities we can gain more ground here in Thailand. Our goal is to further reinforce and steadily expand our market share as a can-do vendor of holistic solutions for metal-cutting applications.\u201d
\nGerman machine tool industry with powerful allies
\n<\/strong>The symposium was organised on the spot in conjunction with the German-Thai Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and supported by prestigious local institutions from the industrial sector and the research community. It was being held in Thailand for what is already the second time, after 2010, and thus underlines the country\u2019s importance as one of the major industrialised nations in South-East Asia. The German side was represented by the following companies: Alzmetall, Emag, FFG-Werke, Gleason-Pfauter, Heckert, Heller, Index, Mikron, Profiroll, Samag, Siemens, Schw\u00e4bische Werkzeugmaschinen, Trumpf and United Grinding.
\nDr. Willi Nef, Deputy Sales Manager at Mikron GmbH in Rottweil, was participating in the symposium for the first time, and this is his verdict: \u201cThe event offers an ideal platform for familiarising yourself with the situational complexities of the local market, but also for exchanging news and views with your German counterparts, who are facing similar challenges. The matchmaking organised beforehand with the local customers was very helpful for clearing up open questions and making some initial business contacts.\u201d
\nJ\u00f6rg Buck, Executive Director of the German-Thai Chamber of Industry and Commerce, concurs: \u201cThe very good attendance at the VDW\u2019s symposium shows that the topic of \u2018Innovations in Production Technology\u2019 in Thailand is in tune with contemporary concerns. The kingdom will in future, too, be prioritising a high-tech strategy, encouraging further automation of the traditionally strong domestic component supplier sector.\u201d The enthusiastic response from Thailand\u2019s trade associations and entrepreneurs has shown that there is keen interest in German technology. The symposium laid a good foundation for expanding what are in any case good sales opportunities for the German machine tool industry in Thailand, said Buck.
\nFinally, Kuhnm\u00fcnch from the VDW pointed out that German manufacturers are approaching the Thai market with a long-term strategy. \u201cWe are confident that German manufacturers, thanks to their long years of experience in the international automotive industry and among component suppliers, can be dependable partners in upgrading and expanding Thailand\u2019s industrial production capabilities,\u201d he stressed. The VDW is emphatically supportive of this thrust, and is available as a contact point for prospective customers from Thailand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"