Industry News

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. and WILLITS, Calif. /PRNewswire/ -- Montage Partners, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based private equity firm, is pleased to announce its acquisition of Advanced Manufacturing and Development, Inc., dba METALfx ("METALfx"), from a subsidiary of Avista Corporation.

Brian Morris started with Blum-Novotest seven years ago as the Midwest Regional Manager.

Check-Mate Industries celebrated the grand opening of a second factory Aug. 6 with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, as well as industry and community leaders. This expansion comes with a $16 million investment and 230 jobs created in Georgia over a five-year time period.

Loading and unloading CNC machines is becoming one of the most popular applications for collaborative robots as manufacturers face significant difficulties in staffing this tedious task. A new distributor agreement between Universal Robots and Phillips Corp. will further the rapid deployment of cobots with Haas CNC machines, offering machine shops a safe, user-friendly solution to optimize spindle uptime.

Applied Manufacturing Technologies announced Aug. 11, 2019 marks the company’s 30-year anniversary. Founded in 1989 by Michael Jacobs, the company has grown to 130 employees serving U.S. manufacturers from the Orion, Michigan, headquarters. AMT has built a tradition of excellence in providing customers with engineering and design services, and turnkey automation systems.

Indian River Consulting Group (IRCG), a consulting firm focused on the distribution and manufacturing industries, is proud to welcome McKinnon Shisko as a senior associate as the company continues to grow its team to meet the distribution market’s needs.

Marjorie Steed has held several titles at CemeCon Inc. during her 14-year career. As of Aug. 1, 2019, she added one more title: president.

The 3-Dimensional Services Group has announced the retirement of one of its founding employees. Rick Peterson officially retired at the end of June after a 40- year career in manufacturing with the family business. To honor him the company presented Rick with a “one of a kind” distinctive crystal award to recognize his achievements.

With application-tailored implementation of the umati interface for the machine tool sector, since 2017 clear contents and technical key data for translation into hands-on reality have been drawn up. What this means specifically, and what visitors can expect to see at the EMO Hannover, are explained by three experts: Götz Görisch is responsible at the VDW for the field of digitization and Industry 4.0, and is chairman of the umati Joint Working Group. Bernd Zapf is responsible for development new business and technology at Gebr. Heller Maschinenfabrik GmbH in Nürtingen, while Andreas Wohlfeld is lead architect smart factory at Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG in Ditzingen, and heads the modeling group of the umati Joint Working Group.

When geopolitical decisions, whether regulatory, tax or immigration, appear to be made arbitrarily, it’s going to cause pullback by business leaders. The current climate of tariffs, uncertainty and risk is a wake-up call for a slowdown.

Between 1990 and 2011, the U.S. manufacturing sector lost 1 of every 3 jobs. This scarring decline has left policymakers seeking explanations, as well as appropriate policy responses.

BLM Group USA has announced the appointment of two new regional sales managers to help develop sales of the company’s laser tube cutting systems, benders and machining equipment product lines.

The aerospace and defence, wind energy, automotive, civil construction and sporting goods industries have all come to adopt composites for high-performance applications – and the demand continues to grow. A report by Credence Research in 2019 estimated a CAGR of 9.3% for carbon fiber-reinforced plastics during the period 2017-2025. Duncan Thompson, product manager at ANCA, notes the increased sales inquiries in this area, reflecting a growing demand by tool manufacturers to produce cutting tools to service this specialist market.

MachineMetrics Industrial IoT Platform for discrete manufacturing announced that it has achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) Industrial Software Competency status. This designation recognizes that MachineMetrics has demonstrated technical proficiency and proven customer success building solutions for discrete manufacturing. These specialized software solutions enable companies in the discrete manufacturing space to increase the pace of product innovation while decreasing production and operational costs in their value chain.

OnRobot, a manufacturer of end-of-arm tooling for collaborative robot applications, has opened its first location specifically dedicated to R&D in the U.S. Based in Culver City in Los Angeles, California, the new office area boasts 6,000 sq. ft. for engineers, researchers and local staff to work and develop new products.

Cole Technologies Inc., Columbus, Indiana, is a certified Universal Robots system integrator that supplies automation systems specializing in pick-and-place, deburring and plastic part trimming applications. One recent project involved the deflashing of molded parts where a more accurate robot path was deemed necessary.

Effective Aug. 1, 2019, Dr. Heiner Lang will join the executive board of Bosch Rexroth AG, Lohr a. Main, Germany. Once on the board, he will take over responsibility for engineering, which currently lies with Rolf Najork, chairman of the executive board of Bosch Rexroth AG and member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, responsible for the industrial technology business sector.

AgoNow LLC, a channel solutions partner that provides services directed at solving supply chain challenges with fulfillment and wholesale solutions, along with a comprehensive suite of digital tools, announced that Mike Denning has been named its interim CEO.

When SPR Machine wanted to optimize the production of a part recently converted from 12L14 steel to brass, the Copper Development Association had the opportunity to help this Hamilton, Ohio-based shop get even more value out of the process. The experience reaffirmed yet again how productive and competitive shops can be when they leverage the high-speed machining capabilities of brass.

Fairmont Supply Co. has added distribution industry veteran Larry Davis to its team as its president. Davis replaces Tony Dodds, who resigned as president and CFO to pursue other opportunities.