A conversation with Bo Shomaker of Sandvik Coromant

Swedish supplier of cutting tools and tooling solutions, Sandvik Coromant was founded in 1942. Over 70 years later, the company is 8,000-strong, in 130 countries, and is the global leader in its industry. International Metalworking News for Asia (IMNA) spoke with Bo Shomaker, Coromant Manager at Sandvik Coromant South East Asia about the company's Knowledge Sharing Event 2014, outreach events, their focus in South East Asia, and breaking people's perceptions about the cutting tools industry.

Bo Shomaker, Coromant Manager at Sandvik Coromant South East Asia

IMNA: Today you're presenting Knowledge Sharing Event 2014, is this the first of such events?

Bo Shomaker: This is the first event that we've had for all of Asia Pacific. We do have Knowledge Sharing Events, or what we call Smart Events, throughout Asia many times a year, but they usually have a different focus. This particular Knowledge Sharing Event encompasses eight markets. If this is a successful event, we plan on running it again next year.

IMNA: There's a good turn up of engineers today. How can they benefit from this event?

Shomaker: They can learn from the knowledge shared about ideas, technology, our way of going to market, and our innovative products which will all be displayed today. But with that being said, there are a lot of intangible things that happen during these events because it also gives us an opportunity to hear what the customer wants and learn about what his needs and expectations are. It allows us to develop a relationship with engineers. But as far as the engineers go, we hope they can take back what they learned today to their organisations so that they can earn more profit. Most of the engineers at the Singapore event are from Singapore and Malaysia. But we'll be broadcasting to Indonesia, Thailand, China, South Korea, Japan and Australia.

IMNA: When you think about the metalworking industry's future in South East Asia, what makes you most excited?

Shomaker: Well there are a lot of things that make me excited. South East Asia is a very unique place and it is a place that has a lot of emerging markets, so for business, it's a very exciting place. We have many opportunities in South East Asia to grow our business. So that gets me pretty excited about the outlook of the next five to seven years.

IMNA: Can you share with us any threats or challenges that you anticipate to encounter?

Shomaker: Well any business has threats and challenges. A lot of cutting tool manufacturers probably look at additive or 3D printing type of technology as a threat. But at Coromant, we're actually looking at that as an opportunity. We [introduce] roughly 3,000 innovative products every year and a lot of what we're introducing now is technology of the future. So we look at those as opportunities, not threats, or challenges.

IMNA: Can you tell us more about Sandvik Coromant's presence in South East Asia?

Shomaker: We have offices and direct employees in six of the major markets in South East Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, and Singapore. Thailand is our biggest market in terms of employees and revenue. The automotive industry would be a big part of Thailand's business. But with that being said, Thailand is also a very established market. We have Indonesia and Vietnam that are starting to see some major investments from big companies, so we're starting to see a lot of promise there. They're very similar in that the automotive [sector] is driving both markets right now. Oil and gas is our main industry in Malaysia, but it's a little bit different from the other markets in South East Asia because it doesn't have one predominant industry. Malaysia has got a little bit of everything and it's a market that we're paying very close attention to.

IMNA : What are a few new requirements imposed by equipment makers for cutting tool manufacturers?

Shomaker: Well there are a lot of things going on in the machine tool world. I would say that the machines today are being manufactured to function at much higher speeds to increase the productivity. We not only have to create products for different industries, but we also have to adapt to new materials with different properties.

IMNA: Are all of your products developed and manufactured in Sweden?

Shomaker: No, the majority of the products are developed in Sweden. But they are produced in various parts of the world. We have various relationships and associations throughout many countries that provide research and design. We work with manufacturing facilities, development hubs, development centres, and up to 100 universities throughout the world. They help us to develop new products up to ten years in advance, and this development ranges from software to material technology. We don't just partner with them for innovation, we partner with them because we also see a skills gap in the workforce. We try to bridge the ‘theory'– the university – to real-world application.

We try to create an atmosphere to get these young students to understand what a great opportunity they have in the metalworking industry. We work with two universities here Visitors witnessing the tools in action in Singapore, and as a matter of fact, we have employed two people from those universities. It's much more than just the R&D and partnership with large corporations, it's also about people development and about bridging the skills gap.

IMNA: What areas do you see the company requiring more focus and what are you bringing to the company that will ensure that you meet these objectives?

Shomaker: We require a lot more focus in the emerging markets. Thailand and Singapore are very established markets... However, keeping up with the growth of Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia is a little bit of a challenge. What I mean by that is that big international companies are investing every single day. Not only do we have to make sure that we're servicing our customers, but we have to plan for growth. We do see large growth, so that's good. I come from the US and I'm able to work with different customers from different parts of the world. That to me is why I was brought here. We have companies coming from the US, Europe, Japan and all over the world that are making large investments in South East Asia. So a big part of my role is networking and reaching out to these customers.

IMNA: What will the company's focus be on for 2015 and beyond?

Shomaker: We have lot of plans, but the main focus is growth. We've made some investments in Indonesia with a new training centre and in staff throughout South East Asia. Growth is essentially what drives our business and what makes profitable.

IMNA: Do you have any parting words for our readers?

Shomaker: When I look at Sandvik Coromant globally, people often look at us as cutting tool suppliers. I think the challenge is that we need to change the mindset of the people in the industry, which we're not just a cutting tool supplier, we are a true partner that is looking for success in our clients. I think that we have to do that by knowledge sharing, just like what we're doing today. You only get so much time from a customer when you're at their facility to talk about everything that we can do for them. But when you capture their time in a knowledge sharing event, it really opens the door for the company to really look at Sandvik Coromant as a true partner. Because we don't just share tools. We share how to become more profitable through the tools, manufacturing economics, and many other things that are outside what the cutting tool does. We have a lot of talented engineers that work for us and no one knows this business better than us, that's why we're number one in the world.