Haas Flourishes in Weak Economy

As the nation's economy fell into a damaging recession this past year, the machine tool industry struggled. Orders for machine tools were down more than 31% in 2001, according to the latest U.S. Machine Tool Consumption (USMTC) report published by AMT (The Association for Manufacturing Technology) and AMTDA (the American Machine Tool Distributor's Association).

Despite the gloomy report, a bright spot still shines in the industry. Haas Automation, Inc. (Oxnard, Calif.), continues to thrive, with sales of 4,583 CNC machine tools in 2001, a decline of only 11% from the company's record-setting numbers in 2000.

"Our sales have remained strong during this economic decline, and we continue to be profitable," explains Denis Dupuis, Haas general manager. "Although we have lost a few employees through attrition, layoffs have not been necessary to reduce our overhead."

Haas also continues to increase its market share for several product lines. With robust sales of its vertical machining centers and the new Toolroom Mill, Haas now controls 39% of the U.S. market for vertical machining centers, an increase of 5% over 2000 (market share percentages based on USMTC reports). Haas also saw increased growth in lathe sales, with the number of units sold in 2001 up 10.5% over 2000. Haas introduced its first lathe just six years ago and now commands a 15% market share of lathe sales.

"Haas is known for providing superior, high-value machine tools at affordable prices," said Peter Hall, Haas sales manager. "We will continue building our market share for all products in 2002."

Haas Automation is the largest manufacturer of CNC machine tools in the United States, shipping more machines per month than any other U.S. manufacturer. All Haas products are manufactured in-house at the 820,000-square-foot factory in Oxnard, California. For more information about Haas Automation, please contact Haas at 800-331-6746, or visit www.HaasCNC.com on the Internet.