Thailand's MAT and its winning formula

Over the years, Material Automation Thailand (MAT) has provided its customers with high-quality and cost effective solutions using PLM products. SantiratKirdpokem, Assistant Manager, CAD/CAM/CAE Software Division of Material Automation Thailand (MAT) shared with International Metalworking News for Asia (IMNA) how the company thrived in an emerging market where more complex products and new customer requirements are business as usual.

IMNA: Please tell us a brief history of your company

Kirdpokem: MAT was established in Bangkok 22 years ago. We provide solutions for a dynamic business environment where business and technology strategies converge. Our approach focuses on new ways of business combining IT innovation and adoption while also leveraging on organisation’s current IT assets.

MAT’s head office is located in Bangkok, with three additional branches across Thailand in Sriracha, Korat and Pranchinburi and a subsidiary company in Hanoi, Vietnam.

IMNA: How would you describe the current state of MAT in Asia, compared to other markets?

Kirdpokem: The company has grown rapidly over the years in Asia with a strong customer base in Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, China and India. MAT delivers services and products that enable clients to achieve superior value by addressing the business imperatives critical for success. We continue to grow as an Enterprise Systems Integrator, supplying customers with top quality IT technology and world class services.

The industry has grown rapidly and many companies find it very difficult to find a good SI Partner with the expertise to manage and coordinate computer systems in an open way. Despite Thailand’s recent political unrest, our local business remains strong and demand is growing across Southeast Asia as well as other key markets such as India and China. Our aim is to be recognised as a world-class SI partner and to continue to provide total computer systems solutions to a growing number of happy customers.

IMNA: What is the role of MAT in addressing the metalworking makers’ requirements?

Kirdpokem:Asia’s automotive and electronics industries continue to flourish, thanks to the region’s stable economic environment. Over the next five years, the metalworking industries in Thailand, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore will have higher annual growth rates than in countries in North America and Europe. This growth will in turn raise the demand for high-end manufacturing equipment such as laser machining tools, high-speed machining centres, automated metal cutting systems and the like.

We see two big areas of focus for metalworking manufacturers in the next few years: developing more sustainable manufacturing processes and the rise of intelligent manufacturing equipment.

Manufacturers across industries – from automotive to consumer electronics to IT technologies and beyond – will have to cope with energy and resource scarcity. As this happens, resource optimisation and energy savings will play an increasingly large role in the manufacturing process.

Intelligent manufacturing presents systems with self-contained capability of adaptation to unexpected changes, i.e. assortment changes, market requirements, technology changes, social needs etc. However, intelligence of these systems is frequently understood as control of the software product, and not as implementation of modern technologies of machine artificial intelligence. The rise of manufacturing intelligence is fuelling innovation in processes and products concerning a low environmental impact over the product’s lifecycle. Sustainable intelligent manufacturing is regarded as a manufacturing paradigm for the 21st century, in the move towards the next generation of manufacturing and processing technologies. The manufacturing industry has reached a turning point in its evolution and new business opportunities are emerging.

With sustainable development arises the immense challenge of combining innovative ideas regarding design, materials, and products with non-polluting processes and technologies, conserving energy and other natural resources. MAT is constantly seeking to improve and enhance our service and solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers. We look at adopting new technologies and trends that will enable us to support our customers better and aiding them to reach their business targets.

IMNA: Does your products integrate well with Siemens PLM Software?

Kirdpokem: MAT chose Siemens PLM Software solutions because they have a proven track record of helping organisations shorten the product development cycle time by accelerating the design process through vastly improved collaborative environments and more intuitive process flows. We utilise the Siemens PLM Software Partner Portal which provides us with valuable information on the industry, products, information on competitors, and other Siemens PLM news to keep us ahead in the market. This is very helpful in developing our business.

Since MAT began implementing Siemens PLM solutions in 2003, we have been able to help our customers to improve product efficiency, decrease overall planning resources, and drive productivity. We currently use four Siemens PLM Software solutions: NX, Tecnomatix, TecnomatixRobcad and Teamcenter. NX has been quite impactful, as it provides our customers with a complete suite of integrated process automation tools, enabling them to capture and reuse product and process information. This saves a lot of time and increases product efficiency. TecnomatixRobcad has also enabled our customers to design life-like, full action mockups of the complete product and systems using 3D computer workstations, allowing engineers to flawlessly introduce new automated processes and use a virtual image to validate a product before it is created.

IMNA: What is the company’s biggest market in Asia?

Kirdpokem: ASEAN is our biggest market, as our main customer bases are currently Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Explain how Siemens’ help you to remain in the position of a market leader?

Kirdpokem: Over the years, Siemens PLM has helped us to identify our market position and potential areas to improve our sales and maintenance business. Through the various conferences, workshops and seminars, we have been able to improve our skills and provide the best service and support for our customers.

Being able to provide maintenance is important for our customer’s success when using PLM’s software. We not only deliver the software, but also provide the best service and continued support to our customers as and when required. This way, customers can realise the benefits of reduced costs and improved quality, resulting in yearly contract renewals. ‘A Happy Customer’ is one of our key winning formulas.

MAT joined the Siemens Solution Partner Program in 2003, enabling us to continuously scale new heights and we attained Gold Partner status in 2012. In 2013, we invested further in the Siemens PLM business by adding more sales personnel and engineers whilst setting up a new and bigger engineer training facility. 2014 will see us working even closer with Siemens PLM with their industry go-to market approach. Siemens PLM has enabled MAT to provide the best service and continued support to our customers while helping them to reduce costs and improve quality. We have also been able to improve teamwork, and have dedicated ‘Maintenance Champions’ who work with our sales and technical teams to keep customers happy. Happy customers are the primary reason for our success, and Siemens PLM Software has helped us to enrich those customer relationships by providing better and more thorough service and expertise. Furthermore, they have helped us to better identify our market position and pinpoint potential areas to improve our sales and maintenance business, providing seminars, workshops and training courses. As a result, we have been able to deliver higher quality and better value across the company’s product portfolio while improving customer satisfaction thanks to quicker manufacturing turnaround times.

IMNA: Where do you see the greatest opportunities for growth in Asia?

Kirdpokem: 2014 will see a year of moderate growth within the industry, with an expected overall growth of 5 percent; the Southeast Asian metalworking industry will remain vibrant. More companies will look to invest in building automotive, heavy equipment and even electronic components across the region. Despite the continuing global economic uncertainty, we maintain a positive outlook for the metalworking industry.