Brooks considers ourselves incredibly fortunate to be partnered with the best machine tool builders in the world, many of whom have a long history of leading their industries. OMAX has been in the abrasive waterjet industry for 25 years, Sodick has been leading the way for EDM products for over 40 years, and Hurco just celebrated 50 years of product innovation. What makes these companies able to survive through the start-up phase, a recession, changes in corporate leadership, 13 U.S. Presidential changes, and all of the other difficulties facing businesses today? One thing we’ve seen that they all have in common – engineering lead companies.
Each of these businesses was built off of an incredible product that was soundly engineered. Each brand proceeded to challenge themselves to be constantly innovating new products and staying ahead of the competition. Over time of course, each of these companies has added a sales team, customer service, and many other supporting staff members, but the direction for the company has stayed true to its engineering roots. Whether it’s software or hardware engineering both areas are pushed to excel.
Just consider the number of patents each of these organizations has been awarded – 80 to Hurco for machine tool control technology, 35 for OMAX ranging from software to pumps and cutting heads, 75 for Sodick covering a broad range of areas. These are companies that have invested a tremendous amount of resources into the development of their product, and the government has recognized the unique value that each of these brings to its respective industry.
Pricing for machinery is another similarity of these companies. None of them is the cheapest option in their field, nor is any of them the most expensive. The reality is that to build the best tools possible with the durability customers expect in manufacturing, it can’t be done at the cheapest price point. Customers throughout the world have come to associate all three of these brands with high quality, well designed products that can stand the test of time – and worth every penny they cost. Simultaneously each of these companies is led by people who want their product to be available to the average smaller shop as well. They aren’t looking to price their machinery beyond the means of the majority of the manufacturing companies in the country. The numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show that of the roughly 250,000 manufacturing companies in the country, 160,000 of them employ 9 people or less. Those shops are exactly the types of companies that OMAX, Sodick, and Hurco want to see their machinery in.
While the face you see most often is a sales person or a service technician, behind the scenes of these incredibly successful companies there’s a huge team of engineering folks that are determining the future of these organizations. They’re taking the feedback from customers, service techs, and sales people and improving their equipment for the next generation of products. Brooks has enjoyed the long history we’ve had partnering with each of these companies and getting to watch them lead the way for the future of manufacturing.