Kitagawa North-Tech Inc., Schaumburg, Ill., a standard chucks, advanced chucks, custom-engineered workholding and steady rests manufacturer, announced that Mike Roberts of ITEX Workholding joined the company as regional sales manager for the Southwest region of the U.S. His territory includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Mike, a seasoned veteran in Oil & Gas Workholding chucks, will be selling and supporting Kitagawa’s complete offering with a focus on Oil & Gas workholding.
Kitagawa NorthTech Oil & Gas Workholding Solutions include: Air Chucks, Big Bore Chucks, Heavy Duty Steady Rests, Custom Engineered Fixtures, Tri-Kote™ Chuck Lubricant and Diagnostic Tools such as their Digital Grip Force Analyzer Software™ & Kit for determining and gripping force performance. They solve heavy duty workholding applications in onshore and offshore drillings rigs and fracking. Some popular tooling and applications in Oil & Gas country for Kitagawa NorthTech Workholding products include: pipes, casings, valves, tool joints, flanges, couplings, pumps, fishing tools, down hole instrumentation and fracking components.
Mike Robert’s has had a longstanding history and connection to Kitagawa Chucks starting with his first inside sales position in the machine tool & Workholding industry. In 1990, Mr. Roberts started his career at Rex Supply, Machine Tool and Workholding Division as a master distributor representing Kitagawa NorthTech chucks. The Rex Workholding Division was later acquired by Regal Machine and Mike Roberts continued in a sales capacity for the company. In 1997, he cofounded ITEX Workholding in Cypress Texas, specializing in serving the Workholding needs and requirements of Oil & Gas Tool Manufacturers and Services companies. ITEX was a master distributor of Kitagawa Chucks and the exclusive North American importer of Noble heavy duty brand manual chucks. Mr. Roberts adds, “It was an easy decision to merge ITEX Workholding operations with Kitagawa NorthTech, partially because of the long-lasting and successful relationship we’ve had for almost 30 years. Kitagawa also has an enduring heritage, great Chuck brand and reputation for manufacturing and engineering superior Workholding for the Metalworking industry and we believe they are a great fit for customers in Oil & Gas country.”
Mr. Roberts resides in South Texas and will be report out of Kitagawa NorthTech’s headquarters and full-service manufacturing facility for the Americas based in Schaumburg, IL. The Kitagawa NorthTech facility features in-house design, custom engineering, manufacturing and repair services for Kitagawa Workholding and other brands.
Related Glossary Terms
- chuck
chuck
Workholding device that affixes to a mill, lathe or drill-press spindle. It holds a tool or workpiece by one end, allowing it to be rotated. May also be fitted to the machine table to hold a workpiece. Two or more adjustable jaws actually hold the tool or part. May be actuated manually, pneumatically, hydraulically or electrically. See collet.
- metalworking
metalworking
Any manufacturing process in which metal is processed or machined such that the workpiece is given a new shape. Broadly defined, the term includes processes such as design and layout, heat-treating, material handling and inspection.
