Woodworking Machinery Makers Focus on Efficiency, Durability, and Low Cost

Taiwanese woodworking-machinery manufacturers are striving to consolidate their existing customer base and win new buyers in today's intensely competitive environment by deliberately setting out to offer attractive machines that feature a sector-leading combination of efficiency, durability, and low cost. Some of the machines are computerized.

A large portion of these machines go to Vietnam, a market for woodworking-machinery suppliers in Taiwan and mainland China that has been quickly expanding since the United States government decided to slap an anti-dumping tax on wooden furniture imported from mainland China and the mainland authorities began tightening tax inspections of manufacturers last year.

According to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Woodworking Machinery Association, the island's woodworking machinery exports grew 15% last year to NT$27 billion (US$820 million at NT$33:US$1), due partly to surging shipments to Vietnam. Exports in the first five months of 2004 amounted to US$280 million, an improvement of 20.7% over the same period of last year.

The association, which represents about 280 of Taiwan's suppliers in the line, will organize a delegation of about 100 members to display their latest products at a trade show in Vietnam in October. This will be 10% more than a similar delegation last year, the first time the Vietnam show was held.

Adjustable Speed

If Goodtek Machinery Co. goes to the show, it will highlight its efficient double surface planer, the GTM-1020W model, which has a maximum processing width of 1.02 meters. "I believe the GTM-1020W is one of the industry's best machines, thanks to its unusual processing-width range, " comments the company's president, Wei Chien-yao.

Wei says that the machines made by his domestic competitors are smaller, because the technology needed for making the working table becomes more complicated as its size increases. "A large size, " he explains, "makes turning out a working table with a precisely even surface a hard job."

Before the development of this new model, Goodtek's biggest planer had a maximum processing width of 63 centimeters.

The GTM-1020W is equipped with spiral cutters, which produce little noise and are highly durable. The processing speed is adjustable from seven to 20 meters per minute. The body of the machine is made of die-cast steel plates with chrome added to boost hardness.

The machine is suitable for use with a variety of wood materials, including solid boards and artificial boards. It took a year to develop and cost about 1% of the company's annual revenue, according to Wei.

Goodtek has concentrated on planers ever since Wei set it up 20 years ago, making it what he claims is the island's most skillful manufacturer of these machines. He reports that his traditional export markets are mainland China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, where the machines are marketed under the company's own "GoodTek" brand, but that he has recently received original equipment manufacturer (OEM) orders from the U.S. and Canada as well.

Vietnam has become an increasingly important market for the company following the U.S. imposition of punitive import tariffs. In the past two years, Wei says, he has shipped about 100 machines to Vietnam annually-20% to 25% of total shipments.

Eliminating Gap Problems

Jely Machine Industrial Co. has also come up with some competitive machines, including the JDB-150 automatic drawer-front dovetail and boring machine. The company's factory manager, Benson Chang, reports that the new product, which took about a year to develop, has a maximum processing length of 1.5 meters.

What makes this machine unique is that it is able to cut out dovetail-like mortises and tenons on the left, right, and bottom edges of plain or wavy front panels of drawers, and the mortises and tenons on one end of the three boards that join the front board. The machine also bores holes for fixing drawer handles. The machine carries out these processes with five cutters, greatly boosting processing precision by eliminating the need for processing by other machines whose cutters may not be identical in size and shape to the JDB-150's.

"The JDB-150 is really a very efficient dovetail machine, " Chang asserts, "because it does all the processing on a drawer by itself." Usually, he explains, it takes at least two machines to complete the dovetail-like mortises and tenons on the front panel of a drawer, and the holes for the handles are bored by yet another machine. The JDB-150, with its patented all-in-one function, is ideal for the processing of both solid wood and plywood. It takes only 30 seconds to compete the processing of a 1.5-meter board.

Another smart machine by Jely is the JDT-57 dovetail shaper, which for the sake of precision uses only one cutter to cut out mortises and tenons. "Most of the machines now available in the market come with a choice of eight or 16 tools, " Chang says, "and in many cases small gaps are left between a drawer's mortises and tenons because of minor differences between the tools." By eliminating this problem, the JDT-57 has won two patents.

The machine has a maximum spindle speed of 20, 000 revolutions per minute. This is much faster than the speed used in the multiple-tool machine, Chang notes, because his single tool is lighter.

Founded 30 years ago as a supplier of cut-off saws, Jely soon diversified into the production of automatic double-end shaping machines. It expanded into dovetail shapers in 1999, and these machines now contribute nearly half of its revenue. The company engaged in this latest diversification, Chang explains, because "demand has grown rapidly because the dovetail design eliminates nailing and makes board joints easier to form."

Most of Jely's machines are sold to mainland China and Southeast Asia, where they are sold under its own brand name. It is now working to penetrate the European and American markets (where the products are marketed under customer brands), and to that end expanded its production capacity in 2002.

Today the company can turn out 200 machines of various models annually. Chang says that his revenue has grown 10% annually for a decade.

Enhancing Machine Functionality

Boarke Machine Co. has recently equipped its sanding machines with human/machine interfaces to make the machines more attractive by offering various types of processing data on computer displays. At an earlier date it diversified from a concentration on sanders into computerized numerically controlled (CNC) routers, which command better profit margins because of their higher entry threshold and smaller market niche.

Boarke was established in 1988 and has developed into Taiwan's largest maker of wood-surface polishing machines, generating annual revenues of NT$150 million (US$4.5 million) on sales of about 600 machines.

Among the company's popular products is the 52GM model, which comes with a gauge that precisely indicates the tension of sanding belts as well as sanding accuracy. The machine also has a control system with two circuit loops, enabling it to continue working even if one of them burns out.

Among other top products is a recently introduced polishing machine that can be used in the processing of electronic devices, shoes, and kitchen counter tops, and a sanding machine that is claimed to be 15% to 20% faster than older models and able to work on irregular surfaces with polishing tools moving along X and Y axes.

About 90% of Boarke's machines are sold to woodworking factories, and the remainder to other types of manufacturers. Half of all output goes to mainland China and Southeast Asia.

Company chairman Bill Hung says that the company diversified into CNC routers to reduce dependence on the crowded sanding machine market. The company has attained initial success in the CNC router market, he reports, by offering popular models and keeping enough inventory to shorten delivery times instead of following the usual pattern of producing machines on order. This strategy, he reckons, also "keeps our costs 20% lower than those of our rivals."

The company began shipping its routers only in the first quarter of this year. It expects to ship 12 of the machines in the first year, with the volume rising 30% or more in each succeeding year. This year, CNC routers are expected to account for 15% of the company's total sales.

CNC woodworking machines are gaining acceptance among Taiwanese manufacturers, Hung says, because of their production efficiencies and falling prices. "A typical CNC router, for instance, is priced at around NT$2 million (US$60, 600) now, about 10% less than five years ago, " he explains. "The maturing of the technology has allowed more companies to enter the competition, and this has brought prices down. Also, the number of engineers working on control units and software has greatly increased, making the development of such items easier."

Hung expects Boarke's revenues to rise 30% this year, from NT$230 million (US$7 million) in 2003, thanks to the introduction of the CNC router line.

Lathe Specialist

Coyer Machinery Industrial Co., which specializes in wood lathes, is working hard to promote its CP-1250A back-knife turning lathe. This machine is equipped with an automatic hydraulic feeding system that allows it to process three one-meter pieces a minute. A programmable logic control-based control unit enables the machine to carve several different types of wood workpieces.

The company's chairman, Chu Ko-hsung, says that this machine is designed mainly to fill the needs of wood product suppliers in mainland China and South America. In addition to lathes, the company also makes turning sanders, drills, and tapping machines.

Coyer's CP-48AN automatic turning sander is a highly efficient machine that can be used in conjunction with the CP-1250A turning lathe. It can turn out eight CP-1250A-processed workpieces per minute.

Other high-performance machines in the company's product line include the CP-350D and CP-350S hydraulic straight and spiral groove turning lathes, both of which have CNC systems. The main difference between the two is that the former comes with two lathes, while the latter model has just one. Both are well suited to making Roman-type ladder arm columns and artistic patterns on doors.

For budget-minded buyers, the company offers the less-automatic CP-1300A hydraulic copying lathe, which comes without an automatic feeding system but can process one or two one-meter workpieces a minute. This machine is aimed at the Indian market, which Chu believes is starting to take off; today, wood product manufacturers in India mostly use low-priced manual machines. He wants to tap the market there to diversify away from mainland China and Vietnam.

Compared with many of his peers, Chu is not very optimistic about the market potential for automated machines so long as their prices remain high. "How can you expect wood product manufacturers to spend money on the pricier automatic machines, " he asks, "when their American buyers are pressing them to cut the prices of their products?"