07/30/2008 17h02
Bosch wants to gain room in the wood market
Gazeta Mercantil - 07/30/2008
German multinational Bosch is preparing an offensive in the market of electric wood cutting tools, a market that grew 20% in 2007 and reached R$ 70 million (US$ 36.3 million). The company - that operates in the three segments of the market: cutting, finishing and installation - launched ten new models of tools for the sector in Brazil in the three last years and should place six other models this year. The company, which disputes the first place with companies such as DeWalt, wants to take over the leadership within the next three years. The division of tools for wood registered 40% growth in 2007. The expectation is to register an increase of up to 35% this year. "We are speeding up the rhythm of launchings", said Marcelo Cassone, trade marketing manager of the unit of electric tools of Bosch Latin America. According to him, the profile of the material used by the sector is changing, and that must favor the sales of finishing and installation tools, that have higher added value. "Brazil worked a lot with rough wood, and it is now evolving to plywood, which work with coatings". In this setting, it is the sales of machines for finishing that has the pushed growth upwards. According to him, the companies are growing and arming themselves with more modern tools. According to the executive, the companies prefer to modernize their machines than to increase the number of employees. Today, 60% of Bosch's sales of tools for wood are for cutting, 15% for finishing and 15% for installation and measurement. As a result of the change in the profile of the material used, the executive affirmed the sales of tools for finishing and installation may gain room inside the company. This way, Bosch may increase the sales of imported products. The company currently produces 3.5 million tools for all sectors - which include products for cutting rock and iron, among others, besides wood products - in the plant in Campinas (SP). From the sales for the wood segment, 25% of the products are produced in the country. Most of the production regards cutting tools with simpler technology. The rest is imported from its units in Germany, Switzerland and China. The executive also said that the company may bring new models of tools to be produced in Brazil in the next years.
