IMD’s Talking Shop with: Hayden Peterson of Cosen Saws

Q: How would you describe your company’s primary business?
A: Cosen Saws in an industry leader in industrial band saw manufacturing. Cosen North America was founded in 1990 and after 28 years serves as the company’s leading market. Cosen offers over 80 different band saw models, with capacities ranging from 8” to 80” round, and in a variety of styles such as horizontal dual column, scissor style, vertical contour and tilt frame, plate saws, and mitering saws.

Q: How has your company changed through the years?
A: Since our founding in 1976, Cosen has grown exponentially over the past several decades, adding markets in the US, Mexico, and Canada, Europe, and also expanding our Asia markets in places such as Korea, China, and Japan. As of today Cosen now manufactures machines from two state of the art factories in Taiwan. Cosen North America alone has grown in size expanding our facilities and warehouse space three times within the past twenty years. As of today, Cosen Saws North America has an average of 150 machines in stock at our Charlotte facility and over $2 million in parts inventory.

Q: What are some of the interesting applications of your product line
A: Cosen has become involved with a vast array of industries. Several interesting applications that we work with include:

• Robotics: We have several saws that are used in the manufacturing process of robots. We also have a separate instance where a company uses our saws in a large scale automated integration system. They are currently running tests to see if a robot itself can operate the band saw.
• Non-metal Applications: We have an end-user in Maine which is currently using one of our specially designed vertical contour saws to cut meteorites.
• Automotive: With Cosen being located in Charlotte, the NASCAR capital of the world, we have saws in several different NASCAR team race shops.
• Aviation. We are in several major aerospace companies, and our saws help in the manufacturing of different aircraft parts and components.

Q: What critical issues do your clients rarely know they have or might encounter?A: The biggest thing we see is a lack of performing routine preventative maintenance checks. A band saw is like a car. You need to perform routine maintenance in order to ensure a long life and peak machine efficiency. Many clients/customers fail to realize this, and it causes Cosen to have to be called sooner than expected. Cosen offers a Preventative Maintenance Checklist on our website which lists recommendations and practices end-users can follow throughout the year to help maintain their machine.

Q: What drives customers to make the decision to purchase a band saw or other product from Cosen saws?
A: Service is the major factor. Though our machines are made overseas, (so are the majority of all other major band saw manufacturers) having our North America headquarters in Charlotte, NC with an extensive stock of machines, and a vast parts inventory, has helped in letting the customers know that turn around for your orders will be quicker than our competition. Pair that along with our national network of certified Cosen service technicians, we make sure the customer knows they are our priority and any repair or machine preventative maintenance service needed will be done quickly.

We are also proud of the various technologies which we have developed and that can be paired with our products. We use these as selling points as well. The overall design of a band saw is pretty standard across the board, so it’s hard to change anything structural, (outside of cosmetics) that is ground breaking. That’s where technology and software options such as our V_Drive technology, our predictive computing software, Mechalogix®, and our new material QR code scanners for easier job input come into play. Anything that can help aid the saws performance and give the end user tools for easier and more efficient cutting jobs, and also help extend their machines lifespan…that’s what we want to produce and make available. We want to be the leader in band sawing technologies, and this is just the start.

Q: What are you excited to bring cutting professionals in 2019?
A: Cosen is looking forward to potentially offering up to ten new saw models in 2019. Specifics are classified at this time, but several models being released will hopefully cause a shift in the sawing industry. We will also be launching a list of new consumable products which will be made available to our end-users upon request. Things such as Cosen branded oils, coolant, and blades. Cosen is also looking forward to offering another Open House event this coming June. This will be an opportunity for end users, dealers, and distributors to come in and learn more about the Cosen brand and receive info and training on the machines we offer. We will also be hosting other training events throughout the year, and will be showcasing our products at trade shows such as Houstex, Eastec, and Fabtech.