Doosan's Lofty Target

Doosan Infracore aims to dominate European heavy equipment market

Doosan Infracore said its goal is to become the No.3 heavy equipment maker in Europe by 2010 with a sales target of US$600 million under its new export strategy aimed at the region.
The heavy equipment maker announced its plans while participating in 'EMO 2007"in Hannover, Germany, an international exhibition of lathe machinery which ran from Sept. 17-22.
The company's strategy calls for strengthening the marketing efforts in a number of sectors including medical equipment and aviation, and other hi-tech sectors and diversifying its product lines into multiple lathes and high-speed machining centers under expanded product line plans.
On Sept. 18, Doosan Infracore announced a multi-faceted strategy targeting the European machine tool market, the world's largest. Officials revealed plans to step up their marketing efforts and to diversify their company's product range. The Doosan Infracore Europe Operation Center will also be expanded as part of this all-out effort to increase market share.
Under the new strategy, company officials expect their exports to Europe to reach $600 million by 2010, placing Doosan Infracore in the top three machine tool manufacturers in the region. This year, they expect their European exports to reach $310 million worth of machine tools, a 66 percent increase year on year. The target should be reached easily, as sales between January and July had already surpassed $200 million, up 62 percent from the first seven months of 2005.
The first step toward becoming one of Europe's top three heavy equipment maker is to aggressively market the models used in the aerospace, medical and petrochemical sectors. European demand for the high-performance, high-precision and multi-functional machine tools required by these industries is growing fast.
Doosan Infracore will also broaden the number of market segments it serves by diversifying its multi-function machining & turning center as well as its high-speed machining center lineups. The company will also satisfy varied customer requirements by making customized models available at just the right time.
Doosan kicked off its new strategy by exhibiting and promoting 26 different models at EMO 2007. Visitors to the Doosan Infracore booth were particularly impressed by the multi-function machining and turning centers outfitted with the latest control systems and featuring an interactive program to facilitate operation. The company;s unique collision protector system, developed exclusively in-house, was also a big hit with attendees.
Doosan Infracore established its first European Operation Center in Dusseldorf last year to perform an administrative function as well as offer technical support to machine tool customers in Western Europe. Now, the company is going to extend its coverage to include Eastern Europe and use this operation center to lead the drive into that emerging market. A technical center will soon open in Russia, and by 2010, a total of six more operation centers and technical centers will be added to the region.
EMO 2007 is one of the three biggest machine tool shows in the world, along with IMTS in the United States and JIMTOF in Japan. More than 2,000 companies involved in the machine tool business took part in this year's EMO. nw

'EMO 2007'heavy machinery exhibition held in Hannover, Germany, Sept. 17-22, where Doosan Infracore displayed its equipment.

Vice Chairman Park Yong-man of Doosan Infracore.