RoboJob is no longer a stranger in Belgium and the Netherlands, and the company had already taken the first steps to an expansion in Germany. The Belgian company was founded in 2007 by engineers Helmut The Roovere and Luc De Ceuster. With over 25 years’ experience in the machining industry, and over 40 years’ experience in machine building, RoboJob has all the expertise in-house to build extremely user-friendly standard systems which can significantly increase the profitability of machining companies. This is now being echoed by Okuma, which allows the company to join forces in Australia and New Zealand .
Okuma Australia and Okuma New Zealand are both part of Okuma Corporation, based in Japan, and a worldwide leader in manufacturing, sales and service of highly productive CNC machines, automation and support services .
The two parties reached an agreement whereby Okuma will be selling, installing and servicing the RoboJob standard automation solutions – i.e., the RoboJob Turn- and Mill-Assist Series in Australia and New Zealand. The Turn- and Mill-Assist are integrated solutions which automate turning and milling machines. Both systems can be applied to products in various sizes (standard diameter up to 400 mm) and weights (up to 700 kg).
Australia and New Zealand are not exactly next door neighbours, so where does this choice come from? Co-founder and CEO Helmut The Roovere explains: "An international expansion is a logical step for RoboJob. Our products and our organization are ready for it, and this is now confirmed by an international machine manufacturer, Okuma. After we first met with Okuma at the EMO exhibition in Hannover, we started looking into the Australian and New Zealand markets. We came to the conclusion that there are many similarities with the Western European market. Also there you have a lot of small and medium machining companies with the same challenges as we are facing in Western Europe. Okuma - still one of the largest CNC machine manufacturers in the world - has been able to convince us of the potential and need in their markets, but also of their faith and trust in the RoboJob products. Of course we know the machining world from our own experience, and from day one we have always focused on usability and fast set-up and change-over times of our systems. Through our unique stacking principle, we can also create a lot of capacity in a very small area. The fact that Okuma want to partner up with us, proves that our products are the best automation solutions on the market. Both in terms of the intelligence of the system and of its simplicity."
Phil Hayes, Managing Director of Okuma Australia, is delighted to be working with RoboJob: "When we first saw the RoboJob system at the EMO trade fair in Germany, we were immediately impressed. Such a compact system, where you can still create so much volume, and so easy to use! We had never seen that before. These automation solutions have been developed from the workplace and provide a very clear solution to the challenges of the operator: they are compact, allow full accessibility to the machine entrance, have a lot of capacity and can be set up very quickly. I really believe in the technology of RoboJob", Hayes continues. "They have managed to become market leader in Western Europe in the field of small and medium series in a very short time and I am confident that this will also be the case in Australia and New Zealand. There’s no doubt that our customers will also quickly see the benefits of the RoboJob system."
RoboJob continues to focus on Belgium and the Netherlands. "These are our customers from the very beginning, and they continue to get our undivided attention", explains De Roovere. "We made the necessary arrangements with Okuma, and also gave them extensive training, so they can work independently. Okuma will do all installations and support autonomously, so that we can continue to work on our product range and support our customers in Belgium and the Netherlands."