- The local machine tool subsidiary opens China DIMF 2008.

- The company’s machine tools sales are expected to reach US$300 million a year in China by 2012, and the subsidiary will grow into a global production hub.

Doosan Infracore is making inroads into the Chinese machine tool market at an accelerated pace. Doosan Infracore Machine Tools Yantai Co. opened China DIMF (for “Doosan International Machine tools Fair”) 2008 on May 30 and 31, showing a lineup of nineteen models that were designed specifically for Chinese users and six more high-tech models that are produced in Korea. Ten of the machine tools on display made their market debut at the two-day fair.

The company has been staging its in-house machine tools fair in Korea every other year since 1997 to cultivate new overseas customers, expand the order base and support dealers’ sales efforts. The first China edition of the fair was held in 2005, and this year marks the second China DIMF. Only a few of the leading global machine tool makers have the product development and production capabilities to organize such an in-house event.

The scale of the 2008 fair was more than double the size of the one held in 2005. Visitors viewed fourteen turning centers and ten machining centers, including value-added multifunction and high-speed models. An electric discharge machining center was also included in the lineup.

In addition, Doosan Infracore Machine Tools Yantai Co. invited major customers, as well as industry association representatives and government officials to attend a demonstration of Doosan’s latest technologies and production processes. The event helped to elevate the corporate image and inspire greater trust in Doosan Infracore products.

Doosan Infracore Machine Tools Yantai Co. established its local factory in 2004 and since then has achieved rapid growth to emerge as a major player. Recently, an additional line capable of producing 2,000 units a year was completed, and the subsidiary has honed its competencies for developing localized models. As such, Doosan Infracore is positioning itself as the foremost machine tool supplier in the country.

A handful of foreign manufacturers have been handling the high-end machine tools in China, while local companies control the low end. Recently, however, Chinese economic development and a steadily improving industrial structure have expended demand for numerically-controlled, multifunction machining and turning centers. Doosan Infracore enjoys the strongest competitiveness in this growing segment and expects to see its share of the Chinese machine tool market rise steadily.

Doosan Infracore Machine Tools Yantai Co. President Kim Sung-lak says, “We are leveraging our distinctive China-oriented models and marketing strategies to go after the rapidly-growing Chinese machine tool market. We expect sales in 2008 to reach US$170 million, up thirty percent from a year earlier, and aim to sell US$300 million worth of machine tools in China a year by 2012. Our goal is to turn the Chinese production subsidiary into an important global hub.”