The year was 1916, Great Britain ruled 25 percent of the world, women were on the cusp of getting the vote, Einstein was writing theories nobody could understand and in the Gangwon Province in South Korea, cutting tool manufacturer TaeguTec was born. Einstein’s theories would go on to help shape the modern world and TaeguTec’s cutting tool innovations would go on to help engineers the world over in shaping the modern manufacturing landscape.
Wind forward 50 years from its inception and the Korean government recognised the significance of the mine and it founded the Korean Tungsten Corporation (KTC) in September 1952. In the 1950’s the mine was exporting US$16.5 m of tungsten, representing 56 percent of Korea’s national exports. This made the mine a major factor in South Korea’s rise to global manufacturing prominence.
Through the 1960’s and 70’s the company’s growth was phenomenal and a chemical processing plant was built to move KTC up the tungsten processing value chain. The early 1960s saw three overseas offices established in London, New York and Tokyo. The company was officially commended by the Korean government for being one of the top foreign currency earning exporters; a factor that fuelled a nation’s growth.
In 1974, the Daegu manufacturing campus opened and this now serves as TaeguTec’s modern day headquarters. The 1970s and 80s brought continued growth, buy-outs and investment strategies, but throughout all this, the company supported the nation’s evolving automotive, electronics, shipbuilding and steel making industries by introducing special substrate coating facilities. This included the arrival of Cermet insert grades in 1985 for machining difficult-to-cut materials.
In 1998, a year after the Asian financial crisis almost crippled many countries in the region, KTC was acquired by the IMC Group, one of the largest cutting tool companies in the world. From this point, the company became known as TaeguTec Ltd. Since then, the company has continued to expand its global presence by investing in its people and the newest manufacturing processes to create some of the highest quality cutting tools and industrial products in the business.
One investor that saw the value and tremendous growth potential of the IMC Group and all its companies like TaeguTec, was Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway. In May 2006, he purchased 80 percent of IMC shares with the remaining 20 percent bought in May 2013. The fact that the world famous “Oracle of Omaha” invested in TaeguTec should be all the justification that any engineer needs that TaeguTec is an innovative company and a great ‘long term bet’.
In its first 100 years, the company has supported a nation, helped build a Korean manufacturing base and attracted investment from the world’s most recognised venture capitalist. With continual growth, investment and innovation, there’s little doubt that TaeguTec will remain the benchmark for innovation for the next 100 years. To mark its centenary, TaeguTec will be making its much anticipated return to MACH. If you want to find out more about the latest technology from this market leader, please visit Hall 5 Stand 5763.
TaeguTec UK Ltd
Tel: 01937 589828
Email: info@taegutec.co.uk
www.taegutec.com