Hypertherm reveals cutting strategies for Asia

Dick and Barbara Couch speak extensively with International Metalworking News for Asia (IMNA) about Hypertherm growth to date, the company’s focus and strategies in Asia.

IMNA: What are your roles in Hypertherm?
Dick: As CEO, I am responsible for the overall strategy of the business. I also manage Hypertherm’s relationships with external stakeholders such as customers, channel partners, trade associations, and even the government. It is part of my duty to interface with the board of directors as well. I used to be intimately involved with equipment design, but in the last 20 years, I have participated more actively in design reviews. These sessions are part of Hypertherm’s procedure for product development, and are conducted at various points in time to decide whether the product is ready for release.

Barbara: I joined Hypertherm in 1987 to help create the Human Resources Department. What was meant to be a six-month commitment has lasted till today! Then in early 2009, I moved on to spearhead the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) division.

IMNA: Now on its 43rd year, what are the contributors to the company’s successes?
Dick: The most important factor that has resulted in our present day success is constancy of purpose - the idea of having a longterm objective. The end goal can be as simple as wanting to build a successful company. Hypertherm’s purpose and goal has always been to reduce the cost of cutting metal. We started out with a focus on plasma cutting, but now produce laser cutting technologies as well. These two complement each other because they serve different needs. Hypertherm has stayed focused throughout the years on a small number of key technologies, and that’s what constancy of purpose is about. We have been able to improve cut quality and yet lower costs. But when interfacing with customers, a product’s capability needs to be supplemented by the intangible aspects of system reliability, technical support and marketing. Investment in these important areas has brought us to where we are today.

Barbara: Also, Hypertherm is proud to have always been an associate-owned company. Our associates are the driving force behind the company’s success, so providing for their well-being and development is crucial too. That’s why we have a three-pronged vision that includes our staff as a priority. We recognise that if we neglect this area, we risk losing our team members.

IMNA: Tell us more on your investment in China and India?
Dick: China and India are the two most important individual countries in this part of the world, and we are growing our service and technical support in both nations. In 2001, we explored the idea of setting up business in China, and started with a few sales representatives. As local business grew, we added technical engineering capability because we understood that doing business involves providing support as well. A few years later, we developed a corporate presence, and finally order fulfilment capability.

As for India, we entered the market in 2007. Hypertherm was recently incorporated there, and we will have a physical office by 2012, plus warehousing capabilities within the next three years.

IMNA: What were the factors that drew Hypertherm to Asia?
Barbara: At one point, most of our business was focused on North America. It was then that we purposed to generate 50% of our sales revenue from overseas markets. In searching for the best investment opportunities, we had to re-organise the business, and think of ways to achieve this goal.

Dick: Europe was the first region we targeted for diversifying the business. We managed to achieve the goal of garnering half of our sales from overseas, but decided that weAdidas Puma Shoes