Best-ever year for Agie Charmilles

Agie Charmilles UK (www.gfac.com.uk/) — the EDM, milling and laser ablation machine tool specialist — reports that 2011 overtook 2008 as its best year ever (by both sales value and volume). Managing director Martin Spencer says: “2011 was a landmark year for us; we started strongly in January and never looked back. I’m glad to say that 2012 has started in a similar fashion.”
The company was particularly pleased by sales of its advanced machine tools, with its high-end die-sink machines equipped with integrated IQ (Zero Wear) technology and its high-end wire-EDM machines with ‘duo wire’ capability featuring prominently. On the milling side, the continued demand for Mikron HPMU five-axis machines was evident, as was an increase in sales of automation solutions.
“We were — and are — well positioned to capitalise on the economic recovery, and over 20% of machine tool orders were from new customers, which demonstrated the appeal of our technologies. We strengthened the turn-key solutions side of our business further during the year, and this paid dividends with us first securing, then designing and implementing a number of high-added-value projects, particularly in the aerospace sector.” Agie Charmilles UK also added people and resources to its sales and service support operations last year, making them more responsive and better prepared to deal with customers’ requests. To help the company achieve its 2012 targets, it will be exhibiting at Southern Manufacturing in February and will host its own Open House event in March.