Hot Sheet
a large crowd stands behind red tape with a Bystronic Inc. building in the background

Industry News

Bystronic’s subsidiary in the U.S. recently celebrated the opening of its new headquarters for the Americas region featuring a highly modern production plant and Experience Center.
STRONG STANCE
Technology leader in sheet metal processing opens new headquarters as part of growth plan
In October 2021, Bystronic Inc. opened its new headquarters for the Americas region. The 165,000 sq. ft. facility houses customer experience and manufacturing centers. The U.S. business operations hub was built in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and will support sales, service, training, spare parts, new equipment assembly and refurbishing of used equipment. Bystronic employs more than 200 employees in the U.S. and recorded a notable increase this year.

“We are excited to strengthen our presence in the United States and call Hoffman Estates home for our new headquarters for the Americas,” said Robert St. Aubin, president Region Americas at Bystronic Group. “Locating our manufacturing center here will allow us to assemble machines in the U.S. and reduce the need to import them from Europe. This will significantly cut delivery and shipping costs, which is an important advantage, given the current global supply chain constraints. This new headquarters and manufacturing facility is expected to accommodate the company’s projected year over year employee growth target of approximately 20 percent for vital operations, manufacturing, administration and support, and project management.”

Hoffman Estates Mayor William McLeod added “Bystronic’s technologically innovative, full-spectrum operation provides significant leverage to our community and region in the area of manufacturing. Bystronic’s future here in Hoffman Estates is an exciting one.”

Our goal for the future is to produce more of our sustainable technologies here and continue to help our customers.
Chief Technology Officer
Christoph Rüttimann
Bystronic Inc.
With the assembly of laser cutting machines in the U.S., Bystronic is continuing to develop its market presence and operations network. The next generation BySmart Fiber 3015 and 4020 laser cutting machines, now with 8 kW and 10 kW fiber laser power, are the first machines to be locally produced in North America, Europe and Asia, thus strengthening Bystronic’s global product availability and supply chain diversification.

Bystronic’s new Experience Center and smart factory will demonstrate the company’s entire range of sheet metal processing solutions. Customers will be able to see the latest technologies for laser cutting, integrated automation, storage solutions, flexible bending systems, tube and profile processing solutions. A software landscape that covers the entire sheet metal processing chain, smart services, and customized live demonstrations are also available.

“We are delighted to open our headquarters in Hoffman Estates, close to our American customers and partners,” said Christoph Rüttimann, chief technology officer of Bystronic. “The vast majority of Bystronic’s product and service innovations are co-created with customers, suppliers, startups and other partners. Our goal for the future is to produce more of our sustainable technologies here and continue to help our customers to be at the forefront of world-based competition.”

M&A
Axalta unveils paint scheme after acquisition
top view of the Hendrick Motorsports’ iconic No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE with a new paint scheme
Axalta, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, unveiled a new paint scheme for Hendrick Motorsports’ iconic No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE that spotlights Axalta’s newest acquisition, U-POL. Axalta completed its acquisition of U-POL, a supplier of paint, protective coatings and accessories primarily for the automotive aftermarket, in September. U-POL’s portfolio of automotive refinishing products and accessories includes Raptor, a bed liner and protective coating that can be tinted to any color and offers superior protection across a range of different applications from 4×4 customization to agricultural, earthmoving and construction machinery.
ASSOCIATIONS

AWS launches data website

two welders at work
When it comes to the welding industry, reports commonly cite outdated statistics or inaccurate information. The AWS Foundation launched Welding Workforce Data, a website dedicated to sharing accurate and timely welding workforce statistics and projections. The site is powered by Emsi labor market data, CareersInWelding.com, and the U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency lists. The site shows projected welding needs and welder opportunities and is designed to become the trusted source for the industry as a whole. Visit weldingworkforcedata.com.
image of Tom Snow holding an award plaque
image of Tom Snow holding an award plaque
PEOPLE
T.J. Snow chairman wins resistance welding award
The Resistance Welding Manufacturing Alliance has recognized Tom Snow, chairman of T. J. Snow Co., Chattanooga, Tennessee, with the Elihu Thomson Resistance Welding Award. The award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the technology and application of the resistance welding process, invented in the late 1800s by Elihu Thomson, an associate of Thomas Edison. Snow joined the business founded by his father, who won the same award in 2003, about 48 years ago.

AWARDS

Combilift claims business of the year award

Combilift factory workers standing in factory

Energia, the largest supplier of 100 percent green energy in Ireland, hosted its biannual Awards Ceremony, with 19 awards being presented to Irish family businesses. Combilift has been recognized as the overall winner of the Energia Family Business of the Year 2021. The awards celebrate generations of families who work together, and this year’s ceremony focused on honoring businesses that demonstrated outstanding leadership and resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to thrive and grow.

INSTALLATION

COE ships processing line

COE Press Equipment's 12-in.-wide coil processing line
COE Press Equipment, Sterling Heights, Michigan, recently shipped a 12-in.-wide coil processing line to the Elkay Manufacturing Co., Savanna, Illinois, which makes stainless steel sinks, faucets, drinking fountains and bottle fillers. The line is designed to process stainless steel coils up from 0.020 in. to 0.160 in. thick, depending on the material width, and achieve a roll speed of 392 feet per minute with a feed accuracy of +/- 0.003 in.
TRAINING & EDUCATION
Mid Atlantic Machinery raises over $45,000 for local trade school
four attendees of Mid Atlantic Machinery's golf outing smiling, standing shoulder to shoulder
In supporting the education of future fabricators across the Central Pennsylvania region, Mid Atlantic Machinery hosted a golf outing that raised over $45,000 for the Metal Fabrication and Welding Technology Program at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. The program helps to meet the higher education needs of low-income, historically under-represented students, resulting in immediate employment at a sustaining wage, supporting the growth and strength of business and industry across Pennsylvania.
CAPACITY
Desktop Metal increases capacity
Desktop Metal, Burlington, Massachusetts opened an in-house manufacturing facility that more than triples the final assembly space dedicated to the Production System platform to meet demand for the metal 3D printing technology. This new facility is part of a plan to accelerate the production ramp of Desktop Metal’s flagship Production System P-50 printer, for which the company is engaged in component procurement and assembly of initial builds targeted for shipment in the fourth quarter of 2021. Created by the inventors of binder jetting and single-pass inkjet technology, the Production System is an industrial manufacturing platform powered by Desktop Metal’s Single Pass Jetting technology.
Headshot of Christine Benz
Headshot of Christine Benz
PEOPLE
Trumpf adds to management team
Christine Benz has been named head of TruServices and Smart Services at Trumpf Inc., Farmington, Connecticut. In her new role, Benz will provide her technical knowledge and management expertise to develop plans to optimize the use of aftersales technology and solution-oriented services.
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Lincoln Electric and SES combine AM expertise
close view of a stack of metal sheets being welded
Lincoln Electric, Cleveland, and Stress Engineering Services Inc., Houston, signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize their collaboration in large-format metal additive manufacturing. The collaboration will help customers accelerate the adoption and qualification of AM parts. SES assists on the front end with design and analysis and the back end with validation testing, leveraging its design and test capabilities for large components. Lincoln Electric’s vertical integration and installed capacity can deliver high-quality AM components fast.
CAPACITY
TrueNorth announces expansion and acquisition
a steel welder working on a large structure
TrueNorth Steel, Fargo, North Dakota, fabricator of structural steel materials, acquired a 300,000-sq.-ft. facility in West Fargo, North Dakota. In addition to providing expanded under-roof, controlled-climate fabrication area, the facility features enhanced fabrication and material-handling capabilities. The company will eventually hire 40 people. Apart from the expansion, TrueNorth Steel purchased the assets of Beck Steel, Lubbock, Texas. Beck Steel will operate as TrueNorth Steel. The acquisition gives TrueNorth Steel the opportunity to expand its geographical reach into Texas and the rest of the Southwest. The Beck Steel facility adds 150,000-sq.-ft. of under-roof fabrication space as well as fabrication and material handling equipment.
PEOPLE
Southern States Machinery makes two hires
Headshot of Andrew Wildman
Headshot of Adam Bryan
Headshot of Andrew Wildman
Headshot of Adam Bryan
Southern States Machinery, Mooresville, North Carolina, is expanding its Trumpf service capabilities with applications engineer Andrew Wildman. He will work with Trumpf customers seeking to optimize manufacturing processes. Wildman has over 20 years of experience in the machine tool industry and a focus in CO2 lasers and fiber lasers. The company also named Adam Bryan as a Trumpf certified application engineer to work with customers in Florida.
Headshot of John Davis
Headshot of John Davis
PEOPLE
Global Shop Solutions names CTO
Global Shop Solutions, The Woodlands, Texas, named John Davis as chief technology officer. Davis joined Global Shop Solutions in 2004, and over the past 17 years, has served the company in various capacities including analyst, programmer, and management. Most recently, he led the R&D Infrastructure Team.

AWARDS

SME recognizes faculty advisors

SME Distinguished Faculty Advisor award recipient Steve Dusseau speaks with students

SME Distinguished Faculty Advisor award recipient Steve Dusseau, Indiana Tech.

SME chose five university professors to receive its 2021 Distinguished Faculty Advisor Award. They are Bahram Asiabanpour, Texas State University; Steve Dusseau, Indiana Tech; Eric McKell, Brigham Young University; Thomas Lucas, Purdue University; and Hitesh Vora, Oklahoma State University. Established in 2011, the award is presented to SME student chapter faculty advisors to recognize their oversight and engagement efforts advocating for students and the manufacturing industry. Faculty advisors share their expertise to integrate real-world design projects into their classrooms, offer on-site research lab experience, sponsor attendance at industry conferences, and co-author scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals and at professional conferences.
APPLICATIONS

Online platform provides cobot application training

a man trains with OnRobot on a laptop

OnRobot, Denmark, launched Learn OnRobot, a free online training platform that guides users, step by step, through the process of designing and deploying cobot applications featuring OnRobot tools such as grippers, vision cameras, processing kits and sensors in setups with all major cobot and light industrial robot brands. Localized with support in nine languages, Learn OnRobot’s extensive library of simple, direct how-to videos and 3D simulations provide detailed information on collaborative applications, including machine tending, palletizing, pick and place, and sanding. The platform is accessible via PCs, smartphones and tablets. Learn OnRobot also mitigates labor shortages by enabling fast and effective collaborative automation deployments, empowering companies to respond quickly to challenging labor conditions.

RESHORING
Die caster earns reshoring award
Acme Alliance LLC, a die caster in Northbrook, Illinois, received the 2021 National Metalworking Reshoring Award in recognition of its success in bringing manufacturing back to the United States. The 2021 award was presented at Fabtech by Harry Moser, founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative. The award honors companies that have effectively reshored products, parts, or tooling made primarily by metal forming, fabricating, casting or machining, including additive manufacturing.
PEOPLE
AIDA adds new employees
AIDA-America, Dayton, Ohio, recently hired several employees. Shinya Hirose transferred from AIDA Engineering in Japan to serve as transplant service manager at AIDA-America. Taylor Hehl was named sales administrator/receptionist. Matt Hall has taken on the role of quality technician. Courtney Bastress was hired as accounts payable/payroll specialist.
EXPANSION
Camfil breaks ground
foundations for a new manufacturing and office facility at Craighead Technical Park in Jonesboro, Arkansas

Camfil Air Pollution Control, manufacturer of industrial dust, fume and mist collection systems for industrial processes, broke ground for its new manufacturing and office facility at Craighead Technical Park in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on Nov. 4, 2021. Camfil plans to invest more than $37 million in the facility, which will add about 67 new jobs within five years to an existing workforce of 237 people. The new 290,000-sq. ft. facility will occupy 34 acres and is scheduled to open in fall 2022. In addition to space for manufacturing industrial dust collectors and filter cartridges, the facility will also house sales offices, warehousing and shipping.

Headshot of Gene Deych
Headshot of Gene Deych
PEOPLE
MC Machinery adds sales rep
Gene Deych has joined MC Machinery, Elk Grove Village, Illinois, as a regional sales representative for lasers, automation equipment and press brakes. Based in Aurora, Colorado, Deych covers Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Southeast Idaho.
ANNIVERSARY
Master Fluid Solutions celebrates 70 years
close view of metal being grinded
In November, Master Fluid Solutions, Perrysburg, Ohio, celebrated its 70th anniversary. Founder Clyde A. Sluhan created the company to revolutionize efficiency and sustainability in manufacturing through metalworking fluids. With a background in industrial chemistry, he tested more than 3,000 coolant formulations before perfecting the first TRIM® cutting fluid and bringing it to market in 1951. Then, he officially co-founded Master Fluid Solutions with his wife, Marian, and began production in Toledo, Ohio. In honor of the company’s 70th anniversary, Congressman Bob Latta introduced a proclamation congratulating and commending MFS for its leadership in scientific research and commitment to sustainability. The Mayor of Perrysburg, Ohio, Tom Mackin, issued an additional proclamation recognizing MFS’ commitment to workers, safety and quality.
Headshot of Gene Deych
Headshot of Gene Deych
AWARDS
AMT honors Mazak’s Papke
Recognized for his lifetime of dedication to the advancement of the manufacturing industry, Brian Papke, former Chairman and now Executive Advisor to the Board of Mazak Corporation, received the prestigious Al Moore Award from The Association of Manufacturing Technology Association of Manufacturing Technology during the recent MFG Meeting and MTForecast in Denver. Throughout his career, Papke has promoted, supported and expanded applications of machine tools and manufacturing technology in ways that have proven instrumental to the success of North American manufacturers.
Headshot of Nicholas Santjer
Headshot of Nicholas Santjer
PEOPLE
Consumables Product Group adds sales rep
Nicholas Santjer has joined MC Machinery’s Consumables Product Group as the northern regional sales representative for EDM consumables. Based in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, Santjer covers Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas. A Minnesota native, Santjer earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato and has several years of sales experience.
view upward of a steel bridge in the middle of construction
GOVERNMENT

AISC, NSBA applaud infrastructure bill

The American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Steel Bridge Alliance commend the U.S. Congress for passing the $1.2 trillion, bipartisan Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, which is expected to boost infrastructure investment by nearly 40 percent. The act, which President Joe Biden will likely sign into law soon, will enable much-needed and long-overdue investment in our nation’s critical infrastructure, including highway structures, bridges and public transit structures. It will strengthen our economy and create good-paying jobs by using domestic fabricated structural steel to meet the demand of the future, explained Max Puchtel, AISC’s director of government relations and sustainability. The a ct also contains strong Buy America provisions which will keep our public dollars invested here at home. Construction materials must be produced in the United States, and any general waivers to the program continue to require review.
Headshot of Chris Boyer
Headshot of Chris Boyer
PEOPLE
Lyon Sheet Metal names president
Ryan Corrigan was named president of Lyon Sheet Metal Inc., St. Louis, a fabricator, supplier and installer of HVAC systems for new construction and renovations. Most recently, Corrigan served as vice president of strategy for Bernhard, a New Orleans-based energy services provider. He serves on the board of the Missouri Energy Initiative and is a former president of the St. Louis chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers. Corrigan earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master’s in business administration from the Olin School of Business at Washington University.
PEOPLE
Saw Service of America announces new CEO
Headshot of Jim Gesner
Headshot of Jim Gesner
Jim Gesner was named CEO of Saw Service of America, Pico Rivera, California, following the retirement of founder and CEO Lynn Gesner. Lynn Gesner expressed both pride and confidence as she stepped down and passed the torch to Jim.
CAPITAL INVESTMENT
Enmark secures capital from software investor
Enmark Systems Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced that it has received a significant growth investment from Accel-KKR, Menlo Park, California, a technology-focused private equity firm. Effective immediately, Grant Stanis is named the CEO of Enmark Systems, succeeding President and Owner Michael Rybicki, who will continue to provide strategic direction as Enmark’s CTO.
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