Masters of sheet metal machinery Petersen Machinery

MASTERS OF SHEET METAL MACHINERY

Petersen Machinery is a market leader in the design and manufacture of sheet metal fabricating machinery. Philip Yorke talked to Peter Tafazoli, the company’s CEO, about its unique solutions for optimising sheet metal production and its global re-branding strategy.

Petersen Machinery has been manufacturing machines since 1907 and highperformance sheet metal machinery for over 50 years. Today the company is based in Gotene, Sweden, where its state-of-the-art facilities develop machines that are designed to meet the latest needs of the sheet metal industry. The company markets two renowned global brands: CIDAN and Göteneds. The CIDAN brand was created from the initials of the founder, Christian Iensen of Danmark, and the Göteneds brand simply reflected the home-town name of the company’s original facility in Sweden at Goetene.

Petersen Machinery offers a wide range of machines and custom-made equipment that

covers an equally diverse range of product groups. These include CNC power folding machines, motorised guillotine shears, cut-tolength lines, decoilers and recoilers. Between them these machines set the industry standards and offer features that are not available anywhere else in the market. The company is owned by Petersen Machinery Denmark AS, which has subsidiaries located in the USA and China. Petersen Machinery also has a comprehensive worldwide network of dealers to meet its customers’ servicing and technical support needs.

Unique, flexible, energy-saving solutions

All Petersen’s advanced products are developed in house and based upon its own internal research, and they all benefit from the latest patented Petersen technology. The company’s famous range of folding machines offers a number of features that are unique to the sheet metal fabrication industry. Today CIDAN folding machines offer unparalleled flexibility with their advanced technology and are known by many names: CNC Bender, Metal Bender, Power Folder and Power Bender. These machines are all motorised CNC powered folders and all models bear the famous CIDAN or Göteneds logo and are supported by the company’s comprehensive service guarantees.

All Petersen folding machines offer optimal solutions to any company that seeks flexibility in their production processes and an environmentally friendly approach, with the additional aim of cutting costs. The CIDAN range of folding machines from Petersen are flexible products designed for a large variety of different profiles and are so easy to use that a single operator with one set of tools can manage the production of multiple types of sheet metal profiles.

To enhance the efficiency and ease of use of these machines, the company invented the original Combi Beam, which is now a well-known automatic tool-changing system that has revolutionised the whole concept of folding machines worldwide. The automatic locking of the Petersen Combi Beam makes it exceptionally easy to change tools and offers a level of flexibility and ease of operation that is unmatched by any other manufacturer.

The tool change sequence is programmed into the control system, which means that when it is time to change tools, the upper beam will automatically rise up to its maximum height. This allows the automatic rotation manoeuvre to be controlled by the foot of the operator. In addition, its two different tool set-ups save valuable time and ensure smooth, efficient production flow.

Focus on Asian markets

In the second half of 2012, Petersen Machinery registered and opened a dedicated sales and service facility based in Shanghai, China. The company is named CIDAN Machinery Trading Shanghai Co Ltd, and sells and services Petersen Machinery’s sheet metal machines under the brand name CIDAN

Founded in 1983, Electricity in Alingsås AB, headquartered in Alingsås, produces automation and control equipment – mainly for Swedish manufacturing – as well as performing service work and repairs of electrical equipment. Our mission is to deliver the highest quality, customised ELautomation at competitive prices.

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throughout China. Within the power folding machine market, Petersen occupies a unique position, as these machines provide users with a wide range of advanced production possibilities which at the present time are not known to Chinese companies within the sheet metal industry.

Mr Tafazoli said, “As a privately owned company we are flexible and able to make decisions and act upon them without delay. Since 2007 we have seen significant growth following our establishment of CIDAN Machinery Inc. in the USA and the introduction of new power folders and shearing machines. However, Petersen Machinery was one of the pioneers of folding machines in the USA sold under a different brand name and now has thousands of machines only in North America. Furthermore, in 2012 we also established a firm foothold in China. In our continuous programme of upgrading and renewal we also took the step of promoting our company through our globally renowned brand, CIDAN. Therefore from now on we will be marketing ourselves as CIDAN Machinery instead of Petersen Machinery, as this translates far better as a global brand and is a brand with equity that is well known and respected worldwide.

“Our business in our mature markets such as Europe and North America is seeing consistent growth, but we see the Asian and Pacific Rim markets as offering us our biggest growth opportunities. However, although there is great potential in these emerging markets, the main challenge is introducing this new technology to the market and to educate it accordingly. Even in Sweden and the USA it took us more than 10 years before we had managed to educate and grow the market significantly.”

Mr, Tafazoli added, “There are many points of difference between us and our competitors – we have a distinct advantage thanks to the competitive edge of our proven and advanced technology. Our hightech machines are simple to operate and offer unparalleled precision and flexibility. The sheet metal machine market can be volatile but we are present in many markets, and as a privately owned company, we can change direction very quickly to exploit market forces. We are also different in that we offer our customers training and provide unmatched after sales service and support.

“All our machines are in fact tailor-made to meet the individual specifications of our customers. So we are pushing to have a modular approach to manufacturing which provides optimal flexibility and the interchange of functional technology. We are optimistic about the future and keep the door open for possible acquisitions should the right opportunity present itself. Today we are very much a global company but we continue to offer a truly dedicated local service.” n

For further details of CIDAN Machinery’s latest high-precision sheet metal machines visit: www.petersenmachinery.com