IMS is the leading brand in the manufacturing of tool holders for CNC machines in the aluminum, metal, steel, wood, glass, stone and plastic working. Thanks to the strong position acquired over decades of intense activity, today IMS is a recognized field leader, still maintaining its own identity and its own brand, along with its operational autonomy.
Interview with Emanuele Porro, Sales Manager & CEO at IMS USA LLC.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Emanuele Porro: The main areas IMS covers are Italy, Europe and North America, but we have distribution in 85 non-UE countries, with official dealership in 24 of them.
2009 saw the opening of the first point of sale in the United States of America, IMS USA LLC, based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Following, in 2014 Machtechsolution s.r.o., based in Czech Republic, joined the group as a commercial base for eastern European customers. In 2016, in order to promote the brand growth in western Europe, IMS Tecnica Industrial S.L. was founded in Valencia.
As a result of this international expansion, also the historical Italian base has been drastically upgraded during the summer of 2017, with the opening of a brand new facility.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
E.P: Since 2017 IMS empowered its R&D department, with specific efforts made towards CNC simplification: we take pride in working every day to make the life of CNC operators easier and safer. We instill this urge in all our partners and employees.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
E.P: It depends from the field of application, but in general terms our catalogue tool holders go from ISO10 to ISO60 and from HSK25 to HSK120 (forms A, B, C, D, E, F, W).
E.E: At what stage is the market you are currently active?
E.P: Our main target is the secondary market in metal, wood, plastic, aluminum, glass and stone production. Our products are used during operations such as milling, grinding, drilling, shaping and routing. Our customers are OEM, tool manufacturers and equipment distributors.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
E.P: After the 2020 crisis, the market is definitely at his higher peak since decades. The many incentives towards the housing markets made the requests for home furniture and renovation skyrocket, with the results of flooding the secondary market with requests. The main challenge right now is to deal with a supply chain that was not ready for such demand.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
E.P: Following our intention to simplify the life of CNC operators, the latest projects we launched on the market are Twister Hydro (a dust conveyor system for wood and mdf nesting operations), Easy Fit (a stone grinding tool holder specifically designed to save hours of presetting time and extend the tool life) and a full line of quick-change spindle adapters.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2022?
E.P: Talking with field experts, the feeling is we will continue to see a surge of requests for all 2022 and part of 2023, followed by a more than probable bear market period. I foresee a very profitable year, in which one of our focus will be planning the next 3-5 years with a high dose of foresight, strengthening the bonds with our main customers and expanding our operations even further.