Industry News

Burgsmüller, a subsidiary of the KraussMaffei Group, confirms its strong commitment to Lower Saxony by building a new metalworking plant in Einbeck, not far from its current location in Kreiensen. In mid-April 2019, the company signed a lease agreement with VGP – a leading project developer for commercial real estate – thus kicking off the construction of a factory and office complex with roughly 7,200 sq. m of floor space. Relocation of Burgsmüller's production site from Kreiensen to Einbeck is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2020. The new site with a plot area of ​​approx. 20,000 sq. m will offer state-of-the-art production and office spaces for up to 125 employees.

Gary Brown, president and general manager of Heule Tool Corp., Loveland, Ohio, recently celebrated his 30th anniversary with the company. Brown began working for Heule in August of 1989, shortly after earning his engineering degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Heidenhain announces the opening of a new central U.S. sales office as part of the company's continued North American expansion efforts. Operating in Longmont, Colorado, this new office now provides direct sales support for central U.S. and Mexico territories, previously managed in either Heidenhain's longtime Illinois or its 2017-established California headquarters.

Open Mind Technologies AG announced it is celebrating its 25th company anniversary this year. Founded in 1994 and growing from just 20 employees to over 300 personnel located throughout the world in sales and service subsidiaries in 15 countries, Open Mind's hyperMILL software suite is a leading CAD/CAM solution.

BLM Group USA, a global leader in the manufacture of tube and flat sheet processing solutions, announces Michael Martin as service director.

While buzzwords such as predictive maintenance, artificial intelligence, digital twin and augmented reality have promised to enable the fabled digital transformation of manufacturing, when it comes to Manufacturing 4.0, most practical applications start and end with machine connectivity.

Superior Abrasives LLC enhanced its customer reach and support programs with new appointments in sales and service-related positions. In doing so, national sales management has been divided into Eastern and Western regions, improving accessibility and partnership management.

At the Control 2019 exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany, British coordinate measuring machine (CMM) manufacturer LK Metrology celebrated its first year of trading as a stand-alone company again, following its purchase at the end of March 2018 from Nikon Metrology by Angelo Muscarella, owner of Italian firm ASF Metrology. The last time LK was independently owned was prior to its takeover by former holding group Metris at the beginning of 2006.

In 1919, Louis Affolter, the second child of the watchmakers Samuel and Marie-Louise Affolter, founded his own company and started to produce gears and pivots for the Swiss watch manufacturers in the area. 100 years later, nine Affolter family members work in the high-tech enterprise Affolter Group and its daughter companies Affolter Technologies and Affolter Pignons.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has named Harry Moser, founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative, as a member of its new Investment Advisory Council. The council will advise the commerce secretary on how government policies and programs affect the United States' ability to attract and facilitate business investment. n

(Phillipsburg, NJ) Bihler of America, a provider of complex components manufacturing and machines, recently opened a new 103,000 square foot facility.

ATA, an Irish-owned and Cavan-headquartered international precision engineering group with facilities in Ireland, the UK and the USA, has acquired Karnasch Professional Tools GmbH located in Heddesheim, near Mannheim and in Gorsdorf, near Berlin.