ISMR September 2021 | Page 58

FACE TO FACE

Timesavers ’ European headquarters in Goes , The Netherlands . plan is that , in the next 2-3 years , the machines should all be operator-independent , integrated into production lines and able to monitor their own performance and provide data to customers . This will be our focus in the next few years .
We can truly say that we are a onestop shop – one of the few companies left that develops everything in-house
grinders ( 10 series ) to very high-end 81 series machines . This means that we reach a wide cross-section of customers . We can truly say that we are a one-stop shop – one of the few companies left that develops everything in-house i . e . software , hardware , sheet metal machining etc . In short , all elements of the process .
PK : We take on full engineering and fabrication and build our own electrics and software as well as assembly , installation and service . This is reassuring for our customers and gives us a competitive edge in the market .
ISMR : What are your views on the current global business climate for sheet metal professionals ? What about the climate in 2021 / 22 ?
PK : I am pleased to confirm that the market is currently booming for us . We have a full order book , after the three-month COVID-related dip last year . Since the beginning of this year , things have really picked up . Our expectations for 2021 are fantastic , and our expectations for 2022 are also very good .
This result is not just a rebound from the pandemic , it is mainly because people are more focused on automating their businesses . It is hard to find skilled staff in markets today , and machines can simply be switched off if demand drops . We believe that , by the end of this year and if things stay on track , we will see greater growth than two years ago .
ISMR : How has the COVID-19 crisis affected your company ’ s operations and which steps have you taken in response ? to exhibitions so we used this valuable time to develop processes and technologies that we did not have time to do previously , particularly in online marketing efforts . So , we are really reaping the rewards now of the time and effort that we invested last year .
PH : Our distribution channel ( agents and dealers ) has also been putting more time and effort into the sales process , as we were unable to travel to shows last year . We made sure that we involved our dealers in new machine implementation webinars , so that they could give more marketing information to customers . This has paid off as performance is increasing and we believe that we are taking market share from our competitors .
ISMR : What is your strategic and technical focus for the company ?
PH : A few years ago , we started to make our machines more user-friendly for customers and we will continue doing this . The strategic
PK : We are continuously learning with each machine development . A key focus for us now is tooling and we are working with partners now on new tooling tests aimed at doubling speed and productivity . We will run a tooling webinar with our partner in September on this topic . Intelligent tooling / IoT is further down the line ( 5 years plus ).
ISMR : Which issues are of prime importance for your customers right now and how are you addressing these issues for them ?
PK : We have now developed a complete machine training programme for our customers , agents , partners etc . We developed a new training strategy and decided to create a training course on our machines for everyone to use . It has been very successful and particularly useful for customers during the COVID-19 period . It is basically a ‘ Do it Yourself ’ package to teach the customer how to set up the machine and make maximum use of its capabilities . It is a free training package for our customers – we create a training schedule and make samples while the customer is given access to all the training videos on YouTube .
PH : This is part of what we call the Timesavers Academy . It covers all aspects of machine operation , such as maintenance , installation , tooling etc . We also produce paper versions of the training , with scannable QR codes .
People are more focused on automating their businesses . It is hard to find skilled staff in markets today , and machines can simply be switched off if demand drops
PK : When the slowdown happened last year , and everyone stopped investing , we made sure that we were very visible online . We ran a lot of webinars to communicate with dealers and customers . We put a lot of time and effort into our marketing and IT efforts and will continue with this ; it has enabled us to reach a wider audience . We were not able to travel
Brush rollers in Timesavers ’ machines are used for surface finishing of parts and workpieces .
58 | sheetmetalplus . com | ISMR September 2021