Buffett’s cutting tool  company aims to double  production and make innovative products


DAEGU ― With the recent inauguration of its second plant, TaeguTec expects to churn out more innovative products and double its production, solidifying its position as a world-leading cutting tool manufacturer.

“This new plant opens a new avenue by increasing the supply to our customers with more innovative products,” TaeguTec president Moshe Sharon told The Korea Herald.

“If you judge just by quantity, this means we will double the cutting tools produced here in which we can deliver to the market, which is a lot.”

Formerly known as Korea Tungsten Corp., TaeguTec is the largest cutting tools manufacturer in the Far East and also Korea’s largest manufacturer of tungsten cutting tools and hard metal tools with the only integrated tungsten production plant in the world.

On April 2, TaeguTec inaugurated its Plant 2 with the attendance of Daegu Mayor Kim Bum-il, top executives from IMC Group, its holding company based in Israel, and other prominent figures.

The market started to take notice of TaeguTec after Berkshire Hathaway, chaired by Warren Buffett, purchased an 80 percent stake in IMC for $5 billion in May 2006. Through this acquisition, TaeguTec became the first and only Berkshire Hathaway company in Korea.

Last year, Buffet revisited TaeguTec group headquarters to attend the groundbreaking event for Plant 2, which he called “just the beginning.”

The “strong advantage” of the new factory, Sharon said, is that it is fully automated and computerized, bringing the customer a whole new world of service.

“Since this plant is fully computerized, the predictability of the delivery is very high, which means the customer doesn’t need to hold mixed stock because the goods will be delivered on time,” Sharon said.

The new facility also plans to offer the possibility for TaeguTec to develop next-generation products.

“This is a big step for us into the future,” said Sharon.

Considered the world’s oldest cutting tool manufacturer, TaeguTec accounts for more than 60 percent of domestic production.

It also operates 26 overseas subsidiaries and more than 130 distributors and 30 agents in 50 countries.

In its first stage, the new plant will hire 250 people with the possibility of increasing that number to 300 within two years.

“When we grow with production, we need to grow in all the support and supply chains attached to the production, from research and development to maintenance, from dining room to security, from export to purchasing,” he said. “When you grow you need to grow with everyone. It’s not only the addition of the new plant; you have to factor in the addition of manpower all over the company.”

Mayor Kim, who attended the April 2 event, told The Korea Herald that Plant 2 is a “symbol of a very successful foreign direct investment into Daegu.”

“They started from zero and now are one of the world’s best.”

But as the slogan says, the beginning is now for Daegu.

Previously short of land, the city, in the last 4-5 years has been preparing more land to be used for foreign companies.

“Now the land is available in mass,” said Kim. “Daegu Technopolis is now ready and offers (3.3 million square meters). Also, we are now starting a national science park which is about (8.6 million square meters) and will be available in 2-3 years.”

When the IMC Group first came to Daegu 11 years ago, there were worries that the Korea Tungsten Corp. would be split up or merged, leaving hundreds of people without jobs.

But for Sharon, an Israeli that made Daegu his home over a decade ago explained that this was never the case.

“When we buy a company, we let it live and grow and blossom by itself and that includes its products and production,” he said. “When we applied this approach, the company grew from year to year.”

By Yoav Cerralbo (yoav@heraldcorp.com)