Industry News

Sunnen Products Co., St. Louis, acquired BTA Heller Inc., a U.S.-based manufacturer of deep-hole tooling and systems for primary hole generation.

GWS Tool Group LLC, Tavares, Fla., the parent company of GW Schultz Tool and CGI Tool, acquired Alliance CNC Cutter Grinding Services Inc.

Hypertherm Inc., Hanover, N.H., a manufacturer of industrial cutting systems and software, is celebrating its 50th year of industrial cutting innovation by introducing programs designed to deliver greater value to longtime customers.

Ben McGruder was appointed director of customer service and inside sales for Dorner Manufacturing Corp., Hartland, Wis.

Mazak Corp., Florence, Ky., named Jim Rutan general manager for the Northeast region.

In response to continued growth throughout the U.S., Vero Software Ltd., Cheltenham, England, hired Applications Engineer Chris LaFleur to deliver technical support to users of the Edgecam and Surfcam brands.

This year should be an exciting one for manufacturers. First, we must recognize the long-term trend where large corporations' productivity gains have been outstripping mid and small-size manufacturing companies (500 employees and less). This year we expect those large manufacturers to continue celebrating those productivity gains.

OSG USA Inc., Glendale Heights, Ill., recognized the recipients of its inaugural "Shaping Your Dreams" scholarship program, which was created to assist students in fulfilling their educational goals in the fields of machining, manufacturing and engineering.

Jonathan Saada, aerospace veteran and president and founder of Hi-Speed Corp., a top manufacturer's representative to the aerospace market, announced his decision to represent high-performance tool manufacturer YG-1. According to Saada, the decision was clear after analyzing the performance, breadth and value of the YG-1 product portfolio.

If the third time is the charm for a grant request in Pardeeville, Wis., all its schools will win. But luck won't get it done. Pardeeville High School applied last month for the Fab Lab grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Council, which awards $25,000 in matching funds for technology education at school districts.

By 2025, nearly 25 percent of the U.S. population is expected to be 60 years of age or older. With this demographic preparing to exit the workforce and enter retirement, what can be done to retain people's knowledge and pass it down to the next generation of employees? After all, a good portion of the knowledge that our "employee elders" possess is not written down or stored on computers—it's in their heads. This is especially true in the manufacturing sector.

A free app for the repair of industrial equipment aims to quickly connect service requesters with service providers. Up! by Up! LLC, Columbus, Ohio, is a new app designed to match manufacturers with companies that perform repair and preventive maintenance services for equipment. "We look at ourselves as the crusaders against downtime," said CEO A. Vinod.