With trading conditions in the machine tool sector widely acknowledged and generally described as being ‘tough’ and ‘challenging’, Mills’ latest results, whilst not necessarily heralding a return to the halcyon days of 2012 - 2014, have been welcomed by the company.
Particularly revealing (and encouraging for Mills) was the significant increase in the number of large-capacity machines sold in the three months. Everything from large and powerful Puma lathes and vertical turning lathes to big box guideway horizontal and vertical machining centres were well represented in the sales total - as were the Doosan DBC-series of large boring machines and the Doosan BM-series of double-column milling machines.
But the mainstay of Mills’ sales success in the quarter came from the company’s Lynx and Puma lathe ranges, and its DNM range of vertical machining centres.
Managing director Kevin Gilbert explains the results: “We recently introduced a range of DNM vertical machining centres equipped with Siemens controls. The introduction of these machines has definitely enabled us to penetrate a market that previously wasn’t open to us.
“Other new machine introductions, including our latest Lynx 2100 lathe series and our DNM 4500/5700/6700 3-axis vertical machines had an impact on sales during the quarter following their launches at the MACH 2016 exhibition.”
But it’s not just new machine models that explain the increase in sales because, during the period, Mills also introduced a number of initiatives designed to drive sales forward, including the Smart Options Rental scheme that allows manufacturers to ‘rent’ a new Doosan machine for a 12-month period in the first instance.
Gilbert concludes: “Our quarter three results are fantastic but there is no room for complacency. We will continue (and are continuing) to strengthen our after-sales services to make them more responsive and in-tune with customer needs. Only last week we introduced our Smart Options 5-year warranties on Doosan multi-tasking machines.”
