Tornos announces it is in talks with cooperation partner Tsugami

The two companies announced their cooperation in February 2008. At that time, two initiatives were revealed, one that involved Tsugami producing entry-level single-spindle machines for which Tornos supplied the specification and which it then distributed through its own sales network. This led to the launch later that year of a nine-machine Delta range, which appeared with bar diameters of from 12 to 20 mm diameter and with 3, 4 or 5 axes. Under a second initiative, Tsugami distributed Tornos multispindle machines in Japan and Asia. Each company acquired 1 million shares in the other, as well. News of these latest talks follows Tornos reporting a decline of 31.8% in sales against the previous year. Orders were also down, by over 36%. The company says it is refraining from making any forecast for 2013, due to market uncertainty. The company is already implementing a "strategic reorientation", its 2012-2017 strategy presented in the autumn, which "is moving ahead, according to plan". Tornos says that:" The shift in markets towards emerging countries, which has accelerated over the past three years, is leading to increasing pressure on prices. This is being further exacerbated by the strength of the Swiss franc. This trend is undermining profit margins, in particular for products manufactured in Switzerland. "Last year, in addition to the factors already mentioned, the group noted that in its product range, the demand for equipment in the mid-range segment was proportionally larger, to the detriment of the high-end segment. This had a direct impact on costs at Swiss production sites, which explains why capacity was rapidly curtailed." As a result of this demand in the mid-range, future product offerings have been significantly realigned, which has led to the portfolio of products in development being consolidated. Projects that are no longer in line with objectives due to this realignment have been dropped. In October 2012, the company implemented "a functional organisation at sites in Switzerland", along with a reduction in the group headcount of "one-third at all levels, including the general management". It is implementing a flexible supply model, based on increased sub-contracting, which will be responsive to rapid fluctuations in demand, during periods of growth and recession, by adapting capacity. Speaking of product successes, Tornos says that the MultiSwiss launched at the end of 2011 makes for very good news. "European customers in all market segments, as well as Asian customers in the automotive sector, have become increasingly aware of the competitive advantages of multi-spindle machine technology." In the mid-range, the Tornos-developed, Tsugami-made Swiss ST 26 has seen "a very positive response to its introduction into various markets". And the company adds that many new orders were booked in the fourth quarter of 2012, with this trend is likely to continue this year. As a result, this product is "being promoted successively in other markets". Moving to specialist products and its SwissNano (pictured), designed in collaboration with watchmaking specialists, "was very successfully presented at the 5th Tornos Watch Days held at the beginning of March 2013 in Moutier".