Oxnard, Calif.-based Haas Automation, is, by its own admission, the largest machine tool manufacturer in the U.S. And executives at this privately held company are happy after a great 2004 and positive projections for 2005.
      "2004 was our best year ever, both in terms of revenue and in terms of the volume of products produced, sold and shipped. We expect that growth to continue through 2005 and beyond," says Scott Rathburn, the company's marketing product manager.
      To drive this growth, Haas is focusing on an international strategy. "We think the real growth is going to be outside the domestic market, in Europe, but especially in China," explains Haas' managing director Bob Murray.
      The firm's management recently decided to add on to its 820,000-sq.-ft. (76,178-sq.-m.) facility, using adjacent acreage that the firm's forward-thinking management purchased in the 1980s.
      "We are doing a 200,000-sq.-ft. (18,580-sq.-m.) addition, primarily to meet growing global demand for our products," Murray says.
      Despite the growth in orders and increasingly global customer base, Murray says that the company has no plans to build new factories outside of its home base. He acknowledges that such conversations have taken place, but efforts have focused instead on creating a highly efficient plant capable of increasing output as needed.
      "If you look at our per-hour costs, they are significantly higher than what we might be able to do in China," Murray explains. "But our productivity is high, and we have a large capital investment here." Extensive use of robotics and automated flexible manufacturing systems allow the company to run two unmanned shifts and one manned shift, with an average output of 700 machines per month. Consolidating production in one facility also insures consistency and control over quality.
      Murray says that Haas has kept shipping costs to Asian customers at reasonable levels by taking advantage of international shipping patterns. "We get very good pricing because we are filling containers that would otherwise be returning empty," he notes.
      Meantime, other companies are building up their Chinese manufacturing presence. General Electric is broadening its gas turbine production capabilities in China, after winning bids to supply turbines for new Chinese power plants — an intense focus for Chinese officials concerned that the lack of electricity could limit the country's manufacturing growth. GE recently completed construction of a gas turbine parts manufacturing facility for its joint venture company, Shenyang GE Liming Turbine Components Company, Ltd., in Shenyang. In addition, construction has started on a new services facility in Hebei Province, to provide repair and field services for power generation equipment. (Domestically, GE's turbine business is booming as well — a US$120-million Global Gas Turbine Technology unit headquarters expansion in Greenville, S.C., is the industry's top North American project by investment for 2004.)
      Manitowoc, a Wisconsin-based equipment company, also is moving forward on two manufacturing projects in China, for its crane building and food service equipment units. The new crane building plant in Zhangjiagang will replace an existing plant to expand capabilities and produce additional product lines. The company's food service group is constructing a 190,000-sq.-ft. (17,651-sq.-m.) facility near Hanghzhou, to meet increased demand for ice, beverage and refrigeration equipment.