[sharpshooter90]

Browsing through the import records at
www.importgenius.com

For the 1st 4 months of 2010, Tormach has imported 45 PC1100, 40 PC770 and 15 Duality lathes, while Smithy has imported 32 Granite machines, 45 Midas machines, 7 1240 cnc mills and 6 622 cnc mills.

Tormach has always dominated the CNC end of this market, but now their volume is exceeding even Smithy's low budget 3 in 1 sales. Interestingly, the Granite machines are again listed as " used " machines on the bill of lading.
My guess is that, on one front, Smithy is struggling in the CNC market because their image has been tied to the 3 in 1 market, and on another front, the guys like Harbor Freight and Grizzly are under pricing them there.

[sharpshooter90]

Browsing through the import records at
www.importgenius.com

For the 1st 4 months of 2010, Tormach has imported 45 PC1100, 40 PC770 and 15 Duality lathes, while Smithy has imported 32 Granite machines, 45 Midas machines, 7 1240 cnc mills and 6 622 cnc mills.

Tormach has always dominated the CNC end of this market, but now their volume is exceeding even Smithy's low budget 3 in 1 sales. Interestingly, the Granite machines are again listed as " used " machines on the bill of lading.
My guess is that, on one front, Smithy is struggling in the CNC market because their image has been tied to the 3 in 1 market, and on another front, the guys like Harbor Freight and Grizzly are under pricing them there.

In response to various private messages-

1. Syil USA and /or Syil Canada have not imported any machines since 2009.
Likewise with Industrial Hobbies.
2. I have access to Importgenius through an associate, so I do not do research for others as a favor or for a fee.

[Runner4404spd]

great. thanks for sharing a completely useless spec. when buying a machine i guess i really don't care how many are imported, its more the quality and functionality that are important. i'd be willing to bet that tormach imported more machines than mori seiki this year as well. comparing numbers like this is totally useless especially in a crappy economy. maybe the owners are getting them cheaper and are stock piling them so when the economy gets better they can raise prices and make a killing? import numbers don't translate into sales numbers directly. may theres a bunch they are using for spare parts or whatever.

[jdclark]

great. thanks for sharing a completely useless spec. when buying a machine i guess i really don't care how many are imported, its more the quality and functionality that are important. i'd be willing to bet that tormach imported more machines than mori seiki this year as well. comparing numbers like this is totally useless especially in a crappy economy. maybe the owners are getting them cheaper and are stock piling them so when the economy gets better they can raise prices and make a killing? import numbers don't translate into sales numbers directly. may theres a bunch they are using for spare parts or whatever.

Its mostly just interesting info to see who's doing what, but not useless. For people looking to buy its always nice to know who is selling more- that often means more innovation and value for the money. The comparison was between machines of similar size and price, so your Mori Seiki comment is not relevant. As far as stockpiling goes, the customs info tells you how many they imported, so they cannot be stockpiling more than that. For a company that imports all of its goods, import numbers are a direct translation into sales numbers.
What I read from this is that Tormach, a fairly recent startup, is rapidly surpassing Smithy who have been around since the 80's. This tells me that they offer a product that better suits the current market conditions.

[Kipper]

Watching import records.....Wait till you discover girls

[jdclark]

Watching import records.....Wait till you discover girls

Hmmm- age 45 and in England- still living in the flat with Mum are we?

[Kipper]

Hmmm- age 45 and in England- still living in the flat with Mum are we?

Strange you should mention that....Mumsy just left with Daddykins.......And don't think for a minute I don't address my parents that way....Must dash, time to polish the skittles trophies.

[philbur]

I do think it gives a bit of insight into the long term viability of a company and therefor it's continued support.

Phil

great. thanks for sharing a completely useless spec. when buying a machine i guess i really don't care how many are imported, its more the quality and functionality that are important. i'd be willing to bet that tormach imported more machines than mori seiki this year as well. comparing numbers like this is totally useless especially in a crappy economy. maybe the owners are getting them cheaper and are stock piling them so when the economy gets better they can raise prices and make a killing? import numbers don't translate into sales numbers directly. may theres a bunch they are using for spare parts or whatever.

[Kipper]

I do think it gives a bit of insight into the long term viability of a company and therefor it's continued support.

Phil

Here's me thinking it means nothing....No need to pull my kids out of university yet.....just checked my investments and no blood pressure rise here.....Maybe watching import quota's etc is akin to train-spotting?

[apeman88]

great. thanks for sharing a completely useless spec. when buying a machine i guess i really don't care how many are imported, its more the quality and functionality that are important. i'd be willing to bet that tormach imported more machines than mori seiki this year as well. comparing numbers like this is totally useless especially in a crappy economy. maybe the owners are getting them cheaper and are stock piling them so when the economy gets better they can raise prices and make a killing? import numbers don't translate into sales numbers directly. may theres a bunch they are using for spare parts or whatever.

I for one finds the info interesting... it's not a sales # and was not represented as such. Info like these are useful in evaluating how well a company is doing... for competitors... reviewing the history of an item gives a general overview of how well the competitor's model is selling and make corrective actions against their own compatible model. I seriously doubt anyone would be stock piling any inventory especially in this economy(except for gold or other precious metal and stones). $$ tied up in inventory is "dead" money which can be used more wisely elsewhere.

Just my 2cent. Besides... the info is here for free... you don't have to look at it if you think it is worthless.

[brunog]

Quantities imported do not reflect sales, not for short terms like 4 months, This can also represent a company preparing to make a sales blitz in the near future or open more points of sales and service.

Importing more might suggest having no choice in getting the goods in while the supply is available too. In many cases as world wide demand increases so do production leadtimes.

Quantities imported are meaningless unless you can compare them to sales quantities.

Best regards,

Bruno

[apeman88]

Quantities imported do not reflect sales, not for short terms like 4 months, This can also represent a company preparing to make a sales blitz in the near future or open more points of sales and service.

Importing more might suggest having no choice in getting the goods in while the supply is available too. In many cases as world wide demand increases so do production leadtimes.

Quantities imported are meaningless unless you can compare them to sales quantities.

Best regards,

Bruno

Short quarterly import #s does not mean much... this I'll give you and is the reason I said "reviewing history" meaning more than one record. You can safely say if a company still have a great deal of inventory in its warehouse, they will not be importing until the current inventory gets low and so if a company starts to import, it means they are selling and need inventory replenished. Even for a marketing blitz... it would be to get rid of current inventory before ordering more.

I am in the import/export business and travel to China 5 times a year sourcing components. If a line of components is not doing well... I will have a sale to get rid of them but will not be ordering more to try a larger marketing blitz... it would be throwing good $$ after bad even if low sales volume is due to bad economy.

Anyway... regardless, these data are worth a lot of $$ to the right people. To me as a CNC hobbyist, it gauges how well a company is doing. The data is not 100%... but gives you a good idea of where the company is going.

Above is only my opinion.

[motoguy]

I, for one, think this is interesting information, and I appreciate you sharing it.

[syil]

In response to various private messages-

1. Syil USA and /or Syil Canada have not imported any machines since 2009.
Likewise with Industrial Hobbies.
2. I have access to Importgenius through an associate, so I do not do research for others as a favor or for a fee.

it is complete wrong info,in 2009 you was post syil north america dealer import 70+machines,in fact it is more than this quantity.

you also very care syil america business license,and i have been post it,they are run very well.

why you so care those info?funny..

[philbur]

Or possibly fiddling with machine tools in one's basement?

Phil

.....Maybe watching import quota's etc is akin to train-spotting?

[Don Clement]

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know. Then we tried to remove the tusks. The tusks. That's not so easy to say. Tusks. You try it some time. As I say, we tried to remove the tusks. But they were embedded so firmly we couldn't budge them.
Of course, in Alabama the Tuscaloosa, but that is entirely ir-elephant to what I was talking about.

~ Groucho Animal Crackers

[PEU]

In response to various private messages-

1. Syil USA and /or Syil Canada have not imported any machines since 2009.
Likewise with Industrial Hobbies.
2. I have access to Importgenius through an associate, so I do not do research for others as a favor or for a fee.

It seems you believe this info is the absolute truth, did you ever consider that a person or a company can import using a 3rd party agent or more simple, that a company is not on importgenius records?

at least you should post starting with something like: according to importgenius...

[sharpshooter90]

It seems you believe this info is the absolute truth, did you ever consider that a person or a company can import using a 3rd party agent or more simple, that a company is not on importgenius records?

at least you should post starting with something like: according to importgenius...

Looks like I poked a stick in a beehive here. Actually, the records are nothing more than copies of the bills of lading as processed by US Customs. As such, they are as accurate as the importer is willing to make them. Some records do show imports through 3rd parties, but Customs regulations require a disclosure as to the final consignee, so this makes no change in the totals. As I mentioned before, some of the Smithy machines are listed as " used" for which I cannot find any logical reason. If you care to do the research, you will also find that you can search the database for the manufacturers, factory, shipping line etc. Each of the reports will give you the date of sailing, port of departure, port of entry, arrival date, container number, declared value etc. For most on this forum its just interesting trivia, but for a competitor, it can be very useful information.

[zephyr9900]

Looks like I poked a stick in a beehive here.

Everyone needs to have at least one goal in life.

Randy

[Runner4404spd]

the only benefit to listing as used is possibly not paying fair taxes on an item or having to declare its full value. ultimately these numbers again mean nothing. if you import a bunch of scrap and are sitting on it because you need to purge inventory, these don't translate into sales. so again, total qty imported means absolutely nothing.