High hopes as Hardinge and Biglia conclude partnership agreement

Biglia is the leading Italian manufacturer of multi axis turning centres and the sixth largest CNC lathe producer in Europe, with over 10,000 units actively in operation around the world. Now, as part of its ambitions to make a significant impact not just in the UK but also in China, it has agreed that Hardinge will in future represent its interests in these markets. "The arrangement we have agreed with Biglia means that in future Hardinge has sales, service and technical support responsibility for their machines in the UK and in China," explains Martin Doyle, Sales and Marketing Manager for Hardinge Machine Tools Limited. "Both parties are agreed that the potential benefits will be significant," he added. "In many ways this is the completion of the jigsaw with Hardinge taking the opportunity to offer manufacturers in the UK and China an even wider range of products. In these markets Hardinge now offers machine tools in its own specialised product ranges of Turning, Milling and Grinding with its capability of offering entry level solutions up to and including integrated cells now complemented by the high end multi-tasking Biglia products." Mauro Biglia, commercial sales manager of E. Biglia & C. S.p.a. is equally enthusiastic; "Hardinge is the one of the world's leading machine tool builders with a great reputation in the market and a significant global presence. Biglia expects to increase its sales in these two key markets and bring to its customers better support and greater productivity," he explains. For a number of years Biglia's interests in the UK have been looked after by Kenilworth based Whitehouse Machine Tools and Hardinge has embarked on a programme to manage the transition period with existing customers to ensure absolute continuity in sales, service and spares supply. To this end, Steve Brown, one of Hardinge's Leicester based Applications Engineers, will assume a special responsibility for the Biglia project - both existing and new business - and he has already been working in Italy to familiarise himself with the products and the Biglia operations. "For customers looking to machine complex work pieces turned from bar or billets, the Biglia machines offer a superb solution," adds Martin Doyle. "For some time Hardinge has been looking for a partner with this expertise in the UK and China to complement its already strong presence in these countries. We believe the skills, engineering and quality of manufacture that Biglia has within its operation perfectly complement the Hardinge operation. "Hardinge offers Biglia a superb opportunity for growth in these two strategic markets and with our sales teams representation, will now bring Biglia to a much wider market, offering customers looking for 'one hit' machining solutions a new range of options. "This is a very exciting development and we look forward to it contributing significantly to both organisations' sales performance in these key markets," he concludes.