Haas Automation Europe has announced the grand opening in May of a new Haas Factory Outlet (HFO) for the Baltic region, based in Riga, the capital city of Latvia. The new facility is owned and operated by Abplanalp Consulting, a Haas distributor with more than 10-years experience selling and supporting Haas CNC products.
Like all HFOs, Abplanalp’s new operation will include a spare parts centre, so original Haas parts can be dispatched same-day to arrive at customers’ premises within 24hrs, on most occasions. The new facility will also have satellite offices in Tallin, Estonia and Vilnius, Lithuania.
The grand opening in Riga was attended by 45-people, including members of the Latvian chamber of commerce and industry, as well as Mr. Gene Haas, founder and president of Haas Automation.
Mr. Agris Volkops, managing director of the new HFO – Abplanalp Baltic SIA said: “The new office, Haas showroom, training center, spare parts center and service vans, will help fuel new opportunities for the Baltic countries. Manufacturers have access to rigid, reliable and very affordable CNC machine tools with service and application support from the earliest stages of their investment. We already have four qualified Haas service technicians to ensure the fastest and most efficient back-up for our customers. In keeping with HFO service principals, our way of doing things is straightforward, honest, professional and supportive, even long after the customer has purchased his Haas machines.”
Traditionally, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have relied on the export of wood and timber for a large percentage of their collective GDP. However, in recent years, all three countries have grown to be recognised internationally as high-income, industrialised nations, with manufacturing increasingly important to the region’s future.
Mr. Jens Thing, managing director of Haas Automation Europe also attended the event: “It’s predicted that this year and next Latvia will probably have one of the highest economic growth rates among the EU members, and some of the lowest rates of unemployment. To ensure that’s the case, companies will need to invest in productivity and innovation if the growth is to prove long term and sustainable. We expect they will come to rely on HFO Abplanalp Baltic as a strong partner to help them grow and protect revenue by maintaining and improving manufacturing cost efficiency. Our aim is to also provide them with customer satisfaction when they invest in a Haas CNC machine tool.”
Mr. Volkops added: “Improving education and training will also help to increase Latvia’s high-skill, high value–added exports. So, following the examples set by Haas Technical Education Centres (HTECs) around the world, we’re planning several co-operations with technical schools and universities, to give local manufacturing businesses the opportunity to find and recruit qualified and experienced CNC employees, trained on Haas machine tools.”
