Tecoi, a Spanish fabricating machine manufacturer with a plate processing background, is making its entry into the Canadian marketplace through a distributorship agreement with Access Machinery.
Access Machinery, a fabricating equipment distributor and service provider with offices in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, is now representing the full line of Tecoi machines in Canada. We caught up with Gorka Eguiguren, sales manager, Tecoi Corte S.L. and Irina Solovianenko, managing partner, Access Machinery, at FABTECH 2023 to discuss the new development and its impact on Canadian job shops.
SHOP: Tell us a bit about Tecoi.
EGUIGUREN: Tecoi is a company from northern Spain, founded close to 30 years ago. We started with plasma and oxy-fuel cutting machines and because the area of Spain we are located in is essentially a heavy industry area with many shipyards, steel mills, and fabrication shops we specialized in large format machines with different cutting technologies. Later we added machining to the portfolio along with the plasma and oxy-fuel cutting. We also added a large format laser cutting machine about 15 years ago. We have always focused on the large format and within the large format we developed a lot of features such as bevel cutting in all our applications, with oxy-fuel and plasma but also with laser, which is unique. Many of the laser manufacturers are in the sheet metal business rather than the plate business.
Our business began in the Spanish and Portuguese markets and grew into the European market and Latin America market, with an initial focus on Brazil and eventually Mexico. Our new focus about four years ago was growing into North America. We have been gaining momentum in the U.S. and the next logical step was to look north and bring our products to Canada. We decided to partner with Access Machinery to do so.
SOLOVIANENKO: We are representing the full line of Tecoi machines. It was a very logical step to come into the Canadian market because Tecoi has a lot to offer Canadian manufacturers. We have support directly from the factory and also from the U.S. office. Parts can be delivered overnight to any point in Canada in addition to the parts we will have in stock at Access Machinery.
Access Machinery’s Irina Solovianenko says Tecoi has much to offer Canadian manufacturers looking for a dependable long-term investment because their machines are built to last.
SHOP: What would you say differentiates Tecoi from its competitors?
SOLOVIANENKO: Tecoi comes from plate processing, so it offers machines that are built to last. Customers looking for a long-term investment with a fair outcome from every dollar they invest can depend on Tecoi. Whatever technology they develop it’s all designed for cutting in the most drastic conditions with heavy materials. Their machines have been tested and have a proven record of success. That’s a huge advantage when it comes to delivering quality machines. Another important difference is the ability to combine cutting and machining. The ability to do it from the same machine adds versatility and flexibility and helps to save money and time on secondary processing. Rather than customers having to outsource the machining part of the operation, with Tecoi machines you can do everything inhouse.
EGUIGUREN: Plate handling and processing is much more heavy duty, so the machines need to be built for that. That is our bread and butter. Any of our machines can do sheet metal but they’re designed for robust plate operations. The machines need to be large and so you need to be creative and there needs to be a lot of engineering to optimize how they are fit into an operation. That is also something we bring to the table. We have a very strong engineering team.
Tecoi’s Gorka Eguiguren says his company’s machines are designed for robust plate operations. Plate handling and processing is much more heavy duty, so the machines need to be built specifically for that, he explains.
SHOP: What kind of delivery times can Canadian customers expect from Tecoi once they place an order for a new machine?
SOLOVIANENKO: Delivery times are much improved compared to the time during the pandemic. Tecoi machines are still quite large, however, and production time takes three to four months, depending on the project. So delivery times will be anywhere between three to six months, depending on the machine configuration. The installation and commissioning should take between three to five weeks and that time can be coupled with the training and programming. So from the purchase order to the time you have the machine up and running it can take four to eight months. Another benefit with Tecoi machines is the many options to retrofit and upgrade them in the future. It’s another sign of the flexibility that is part of Tecoi machinery and it’s important because not every shop knows exactly what it’s going to be doing five years from now.
SHOP: You offer both plasma and laser. How do you determine when it’s best to go from plasma to laser?
EGUIGUREN: It’s a question of thickness of the plate and the accuracy of the cut required. If you need very high dimensional accuracy, that is something that the laser can provide. Plasma cutting, as good as it is, is not close to a laser in terms of accuracy. But there are limitations to laser as far as thickness and the flexibility of the whole system is concerned. For example, if you want to be able to cut thicker material and very big pieces, laser doesn’t have the flexibility required. Anything on the thicker side that doesn’t require very precise accuracy, plasma is usually the more economical way to cut it.
For more information go to: Access Machinery and to Tecoi
