Picture: Lamitec´s Team
1. How long have you known about Lantek and its products?
Tamás Kutnyánszky.- My first personal encounter with Lantek was at a punch press training at LVD where I was the interpreter. I was impressed by the knowledge of the software and the perfect demonstration of its capabilities.
2. How did your relationship with Lantek start and what sparked your interest in our company? When did you start distributing the products of Lantek’s portfolio in Hungary?
T. Kutnyánszky.-Lantek was introduced to us by ERMAKSAN, our partner. Our mother company (GE-CO Hungary) has made its reputation in the CNC machine tool industry in the past 22 years. They have started with Japanese machine tools and today they are one of the biggest machine tool sales and service company in Hungary. The sheet metal division was established in 2015 based on the sales of OMAX waterjets and the full range of Baykal machines. It was constantly growing till the time had come to form a separate company which was dedicated to sheet metal business only. The concept behind the new company is to pay dedicated attention to sheet metal customers and find strategic partners to fulfill and satisfy all their needs.
We started our partnership with the Turkish company ERMAKSAN last year and our new marketing campaign is built on their products. I discovered that although the machines are working well, the customers are not aware of their potentials. So, we need to call their attention to what makes the processes more effective.
The key factor of their success is how well they can handle the digital information. They receive 2D and 3D CAD data from their partners and they have to prepare the quotations in the shortest time possible. During manufacturing process, they need to manage the jobs and keep the remnant on a minimum. The better information handling they have the more effective they become.
You can see, it is obvious to focus on the software which can bring extra benefits into their business.”
3. What difficulties do you encounter in Hungary in distributing software and what are the main entry barriers for a company? Do you think that the Hungarian language could be an entry barrier for international companies like Lantek that want to position themselves in your country?
T. Kutnyánszky.-Well, when I ask a company owner if he would like to have Lantek in Hungarian I usually get the answer “yes”. When I talk to the CAD/CAM engineers the answer is “I got used to it, I know the necessary functions, I use it in English”.
It is used like a tool. Used for the daily routines and seldom more. We decided to do the Hungarian translation, to give more chance to use the software capabilities. Also, it will strengthen our knowledge and make us able to give better support.
4. Which products of the portfolio does your company distribute and which products would you like to distribute in the future?
T. Kutnyánszky.- Lantek Expert Cut is widely used. We supply our punch and laser machines with Lantek Expert Cut. I can see a big potential in Lantek MES Manager, but we are not ready yet, we need to gain more experience to be able to evaluate if we can cover the customers’ needs with the software.
5. Your company Lamitec is also distributing laser, plasma, water cutting machines. Does Lantek mean an additional reinforcement for the sale of these machines?
T. Kutnyánszky.- Definitely. There is a laser machine that we sold during the first stage of the pandemic which is a 6kW 6mx2m machine. We won the business by providing software solution for their old Trumpf laser and for the new plasma machine. So Lantek will be their main CAD/CAM software.
6. How is the situation of the digitization of the sheet metal industry in Hungary and what is the progress of Lantek’s advance Manufacturing (data analysis and solutions) products there?
T. Kutnyánszky.- Industry 4.0 is everywhere. It is very trendy to talk about Smart factory, digitalization, etc. But we focus on productivity. It is very simple. When it comes to digitization, I just ask a few questions: do you have actual data of your production? How do you manage the workload between the machines? And the given answers tell me if there is an info gap between the company ERP system and the processed CAD/CAM data.
Surprisingly large number of companies are suffering of inadequate manufacturing management. You need data to make decisions.
7. How the OEM industry in Hungary has been affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic
T. Kutnyánszky.- We have very few OEMs in Hungary. The metal manufacture industry is mostly based on automotive suppliers. I was interviewed one year ago when the company was formed, and the first signs of the recession were noticed. I told that the sheet metal industry is less vulnerable because it is not so much dependent on the automotive industry. Today I can see that I was not really right. This sector is affected as well. While the automotive suppliers had lost 50% of their orders, this loss is about 20-30% among the sheet metal companies. I can see that companies who have more flexibility which means having various processes, for example plasma, laser cutting, water cutting and welding, etc., those ones could find their customers and kept up a certain level of production which is enough to survive.
These times are not good for big investments. But every cloud has a silver lining. We keep our customers informed and call their attention to the weak points of their production hoping that when there is a rise in orders, they will invest in info technology and buy Lanktek’s solution.
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