Bystronic on a growth path in Asia

ByStar Fiber

With Asia’s appetite for new technologies, it continues to offer great opportunities for business growth. It is with that long term view that Swiss company Bystronic Laser AG globalise its business, in order to strengthen their relationships with international customers and drive greater efficiencies across its supply chain.

INTERNATIONAL METALWORKING NEWS FOR ASIA sat down with Bystronic CEO Mr Alex Waser during a visit in its new Singapore office.

Singapore office

“We have had our office here since 1996. With the move into a new office we provide the best infrastructure possible to our employees to allow them to support our customers in the region in an optimal way. Our new office design brings a touch of Switzerland to Singapore. As Bystronic it is also our commitment to our employees to offer them an environment in a high standard of “Swiss Quality,” he said.

According to Mr Waser, they have key employees from both Switzerland and China factories in their Singapore office to give second level support to its customers in the region and to their local support teams.

He added, “Our Spare Part stock is directly accessible from the office this allows our employees a better overview on spare parts and better working efficiency.”

When asked about the main highlight of the new office, he explained, “We further strengthen our customer support in the region. Bystronic Singapore is planning regular training for BySoft 7, our own operating software system platform. This training will help our users to get updated information on machine application and improve their skill to use our software on daily business. As our customer they can expect that we keep our Bystronic promises. One of them is “easy to operate”. We will continuously support our customer in this region.”

Key macroeconomic and technology trends

“Industry 4.0 and digitalisation are the basis for highly integrated and automated production systems. This allows higher productivity and profitability but requires higher skills and know-how from customer side and better support from supplier. Here we are supporting our customers with training, consulting and services,” Mr Waser said.

He added, “Fiber laser will continue to develop in terms of speed and power but the big game changer will be integration and automation. We have the most productive fiber machine in the world “ByStar Fiber 10KW”. This machine is unbeatable in the market and with BySoft 7 the machine shows in the market highest performance in their class. We will continue to develop and to optimise fiber technology in combination with flexible automation solutions.”

European versus Asian producers

Mr Waser explained that due to high labour cost many European customers have already extensive experience in using automation and are leading this trend. A lot of Asian countries aims to win more revenue, margin and market share. Asian people work very hard and keen to invest for new equipment. The market trend shows that the biggest growth is coming from Asia. “We will continuously support this most dynamic market in the world with innovative and high quality solutions,” he added.

Bystronic in South East Asia sheet metal processing landscape

“We will bring our innovations to the South East Asian market to make local customers more competitive and successful. Our goal is to open them a path to World Class Manufacturing,” Mr Waser said.