Dignitaries, including Vice Minister for Industry and Technology 

Kim Jae-hong, and Sohn Jong-hyun, chairman of the Korea Machine tool

 Manufacturers' Association, attend a ceremony to open the 16th Seoul 

International Machine Tool Show (SIMTOS) 2014 at KINTEX in Goyang north of 

Seoul on April 9. (photo: courtesy of MOTIE)

Some 850 exhibitors from 33 countries showcased their latest products and technology at 5,500 booths at the 16th Seoul International Machine Tool Show (SIMTOS) 2014 that opened for a five-day run at KINTEX in Goyang north of Seoul on April 9. 

SIMTOS 2014, hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and organized by the Korea Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (KOMMA) has established itself as a world’s top four machine tool show following EMO Hannover Machine Tool Show, International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) of the United States, and the China International Machine Tool Show (CIMT). 

Despite the bleak overseas and Korean economic conditions, SIMTOS 2014 attracted 850 exhibitors from 33 countries, up 4.7 percent over SIMTOS 2012. The latest trade show, the 16th of its kind, surpassed Japan International Machine Tool Fair (JIMTOF) in terms of the size of exhibition for the second straight year. SIMTOS 2014 has been selected as global top three exhibition in Korea by MOTIE.

Recognizing SIMTOS’s global standing as one of global core exhibitions, such countries as Italy, Germany, and India set up national pavilions using their national coffers. 

Um Chan-wang, director in charge of machinery and robots at MOTIE, said true to the sub-theme of the exhibition, titled “Metal Life Story, the Specialties,” SIMTOS 2014 served as an opportunity to look at the whole cycle of production and manufacturing technology ranging from metal cutting to steel welding as well as from materials to finished products.

SIMTOS 2014 set up six pavilions specializing in production and manufacturing technology: the Metal Cutting & Die Mold Working Pavilion; the Press & Metal Forming Pavilion; the Parts, Materials & Motion Controls Pavilion; the CAD/CAM, Measuring Systems/Robotics and Automation Pavilion; the Tools & Related Equipment Pavilion; and the Cutting & Welding Pavilion. SIMTOS 2014 has been reconfirmed as an exhibition specializing in all areas of production and manufacturing technology as more exhibitors came from production and manufacturing technology sectors than participants from machine tools and related product fields. In reality, participants from the production and manufacturing technology sectors accounted for 76 percent and 54 percent in terms of the number of exhibitors and booths, respectively.

SIMTOS 2014 was a business event integrating the exhibits, latest technology information, and network buildup between processes with a focus on meeting exhibitors and spectators’ needs. Technology seminars in seven categories and demonstrations of products took place within the exhibition area, while meeting with Korean and foreign buyers were arranged with prior consultations to enhance their success rate.

KOMMA officials said during the exhibition that Korean and foreign buyers were expected to participate in SIMTOS 2014, and the combined value of negotiations and contracts was forecast to amount to some $2 billion. Among the foreign buyers participating in the trade show were some 600 buyers with real purchasing power from 11 countries, including India, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brazil, whose machine tool associations invited them. 

KOMMA Executive Vice Chairman Kim Jin-sun said efforts to make SIMTOS bigger, specialized, and global have paid off, so SIMTOS has grown into one of the global top four production and manufacturing technology trade shows. SIMTOS, being in an even-numbered year biennially, has contributed to exporting, importing, and developing the machine tools and related industries for the past decade, Kim said. Figures made available showed that the nation saw the average yearly export growth rate stands at 20.3 for even-numbered years, higher than the 14.5 percent for odd-numbered years, while the domestic growth rate averaged 13.0 percent for even-numbered years compared to 2.7 percent for odd-numbered years. In particular, SIMTOS 2012 attracted 104,713 spectators and netted 66,063 cases of negotiations and contracts worth some $1.866 billion, having the synergetic effects to related industries estimated at 1.08 trillion won and spillover effects to the regional economy worth some 96.1 billion won, the KOMMA vice chairman said.