A Visit to Hyundai Wia in South Korea
Both this machine tool builder and this country are on the move, as I learned on a recent visit.
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It is always interesting to visit a machine tool builder on its home turf. Last month, I had this opportunity when I made a trip to South Korea (my first to this country) to see Hyundai Wia’s machine tool factory in Changwon. The occasion was the company’s own mini-trade show, HINEX (Hyundai Wia International Machine Tool Exhibition) 2013. This show is presented in expanded showroom space in the company’s newest factory building at its machine tool manufacturing campus in the outlying region near Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city on the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula.
With more than 35 machines on display, HINEX includes models that represent the entire product line from this builder. Many of these machines have never been shown before, although not all models will be available in the United States for a while. (Hyundai Wia is approaching the U.S. market aggressively, but is being careful not to rush products to market before its dealers and end users can fully support these new entries.) A survey of the machines on display was followed by tours of the company’s machine tool production and assembly facilities.
For comments about what I observed and learned during this event, along with a link to short slide show of the attractions at HINEX, click here.
A few remarks about my impression of South Korea, a country for which I have renewed respect and admiration, are included in a “tourist’s postcard” report. Click here for the report.
