05/27/2009
President's Letter
Even in this economy, machine shops can thrive. Are you in the game?
May 2009
Tornos customers are the best of the best. Hence, it’s no surprise to me that so many Tornos shops are thriving even in this bad economy. We have customers buying machines this year to keep up with the healthy demand they’re seeing. And wherever demand has softened, our customers are fearlessly taking the plunge into new fields of expertise. Many of our customers are also branching out from a local focus to form global businesses with worldwide distribution. But why are Tornos shops buying machines and investing in the future when other shops are hunkering down, or worse yet, closing their doors?
I’ve talked to lots of successful shops this year about what they think keeps their businesses humming in good times and bad. And it seems they all have three things in common. Take a look and see how you too can succeed in today’s tough environment.
One – they have the right attitude. Like Tornos, they understand that having the right attitude is more important than ever in this tough economy. A “we will” attitude will take you far – and applying this positive attitude toward customers – paying attention to customers – is critical to success. If you want to be successful today, you need to make sure you’ve got the right attitude. Now is not the time to bury your head in the sand.
As for Tornos, that’s why we dedicated the last three years to developing the best Swiss turn customer service in the US. You’ve heard me say it before, but I’d like to reiterate the importance of these changes: with our three centers of excellence we can guarantee faster delivery times; convenient showroom demos; and easy access to our sales, service, applications experts, and state-of-the-art training facilities. Our unique DirectConnect service puts you in touch with the Tornos support staff 24/7. This kind of service to our customers allows you to provide the best possible service to your customers. Time and time again, Tornos shops tell me they appreciate our positive attitude and renewed customer service focus. Our most successful customers have a can-do attitude; and, they tell us, so do we.
Two – they are not afraid to take risks and jump into a new area to capitalize on business trends. Medical is hot right now – and with the aging population and longer life expectancies, you can bet it will be hot for many years. Medical parts require special biocompatible materials such as titanium and stainless steel, strict validation, and a level of geometric complexity that mean they are not well suited to outsourcing and production overseas. Because the work is complex and requires highly skilled programmers and cutting-edge machine tools, companies turning medical parts are in demand here in the U.S. It’s a niche that proves lucrative and rewarding – even in the toughest economy.
Did you know that Tornos has unparalleled expertise in the medical arena? In fact, 70% of Tornos’ business is in the medical parts sector. Tornos Swiss-turning offers a great combination of precision and repeatability for bone screws, implants, instruments and more. We serve the world’s top medical parts manufacturers – Hammil Medical, Johnson & Johnson Dupuy, Medtronics, Nobel Biocare, Remmele, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, Zimmer, just to name a few.
But Tornos’ application experience goes beyond medical. You’ll notice we use 4 icons on all our marketing materials. There’s a blue one for medical, a green icon for electronics, red for automotive, and yellow for other precision components. These icons represent our commitment and know-how in all the applications Swiss turning serves.
In medical, aerospace, and the evolving automotive fields, the need for sophisticated machining practices is driven by difficult materials, shrinking component sizes and the complex operations needed to create extreme-tolerance features on these parts. All these areas offer your company room for growth. Don’t be afraid to re-invent yourselves. We’re here to help.
Three – they stay innovative, invest in the future, and always buy the latest technology. You can’t compete today if all you have on your floor are machines from decades ago. Technology has changed – machines are more productive, can cut more complicated parts, and use far fewer resources to operate (saving you money and increasing your profits). If you’re not capitalizing on the new technology available today, you can bet your competition will.
Tornos has been around nearly 130 years and it has forged the path for the Swiss turning industry: developing game-changing machine technology and application solutions year after year. It just doesn’t get better than a Tornos. In today’s high stakes economy, you need a superior quality machine tool that lets you handle anything you’re dealt. Since 1880, that machine has been a Tornos.
Successful manufacturing businesses today know that adopting the latest machining technologies is key to accurately and repeatably cutting parts. Buy the best and you’ll be the best!
Now is a good time to expand your business or make an aggressive change. Weaker competition is being weeded out; real estate and rental space is available and affordable, and it’s an employers’ market. Invest in your future – Get the equipment you need to start making parts for emerging industries today and not only can you improve your bottom line in the short term – you’ll be perfectly situated for increased, long-term success as the economy turns around.
If you’d like to know more about how Tornos can help your business, please give us a call today. We’ll be happy to share more success stories and help you determine what game-changing Tornos solutions can do for your business.
