May 2010 News

New Sales Manager

Randy Flores has been selected to lead Hurco Companies Inc.’s direct sales initiative in Southern California. Mr. Flores and Hurco U.S.A. executives hosted the first Southern California Lunch and Learn event late last year at the Hurco Technology Center and Showroom located in Carson, Calif.

Mr. Flores has 19 years of experience in the machine tool industry as part owner of D&R
Machinery in Arizona, where he has represented Hurco machine tools for 10 years.

EMC Precision Acquires Company

EMC Precision Machining has a definitive agreement to acquire Biddle Precision Components. “Through the acquisition, we reinforce EMC’s ability to rapidly respond to customers’ precision machining problems,” says Brad Ohlemacher, president of EMC.

“We are absolutely dedicated to our core strength of serving customers who
need precision machined solutions in a short amount of time.”

EMC chief executive officer, Jeff Ohlemacher, added, “We will quickly leverage the synergies between EMC Precision and Biddle to build on our strong market position. We have and will continue to invest in processes, capacity, technology and training to ensure that we remain strong as the economy begins to recover.”

Morris Group Establishes University

The purpose of the Morris Group’s Morris University is to provide formal education and
training for employees of Morris Group Inc. and its divisions. “Morris University will provide a centralized strategic framework for the education and development of our most critical resource—our employees,” explains Morris Group’s president, Brad Morris.

Morris University is to be a key com-ponent in the recruitment and retention of the highest quality employees required to serve the expanding needs of its customers.
Chief learning officer, Michael Whitney, will serve as dean of the university. He will work with the executive committee and key partners to establish and implement Morris University’s curriculum and strategic learning vision.

Goellner Assigns New V.P. of Sales

Greg Champion has been promoted to V.P. of sales and marketing at Goellner Inc., the holding company for Advanced Machine & Engineering and Hennig Inc. Mr. Champion has many years of experience with Hennig and more than 20 years of experience in a variety of management positions in the machine tool and machine tool accessory industries.

In his new role, Mr. Champion will direct the sales and marketing departments of both Advanced Machine & Engineering and Hennig Inc. worldwide and will work in conjunction with the staff at both locations. He will also be developing new business opportunities, both domestically and globally.

Methods Appoints Marketing Manager

Methods Machine Tools Inc. has appointed Mr. Phil Janiszewski as marketing manager. He brings more than 30 years of experience in the manufacturing, machine tool and tool accessories business.

Prior to joining Methods, Mr. Janiszewski spent 7 years as marketing manager at Koma Precision Inc. In his role there, Mr. Janiszewski managed all areas of marketing from database design, advertising, brochure/catalog design, to Web site design and trade show layout/coordination. Before his marketing career, Mr. Janiszewski worked in outside sales for fabrication and machining services, metal stamping and injection molding equipment, EDM machinery and high speed vertical machining centers.

Steel Company Acquires Assets

Worthington Industries Inc.’s steel processing business segment has acquired the steel processing assets of Gibraltar Industries Inc. The acquisition will expand the capabilities of Worthington Steel Company’s cold rolled strip business and its ability to service the needs of new and existing customers.

Also included in the transaction were the equipment and inventory of Gibraltar’s Buffalo facility and a warehouse facility in Detroit. As it exits the steel processing business, Gibraltar plans to begin the process of closing the Buffalo facility and working with Worthington Steel to coordinate customer accounts as they are transferred to Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.

Call for Entries for the Innovation of Americas Contest

Mori Seiki has announced the call for entries for the 2010 Innovation of the Americas contest. The contest is designed to recognize the machinist who demonstrates the highest level of innovation in part design and manufacturing. Submissions are being accepted in four categories: aircraft/aerospace, automotive, die/mold/artistic and general/tool/toy. Entries are judged based on creativity in design, expertise in programming and excellence in machine skill and operation. All entrants will receive an invitation to attend the awards ceremony, which will take place on September 16.

The four first-place category winners will receive a cash prize of $2,500; second place winners will receive $1,000. The winners will be announced at IMTS 2010, and winning entries will be displayed for the duration of the show in the Mori Seiki booth (S-8900). For submission instructions and to enter online, visit moriseikius.com/IofA.

West Coast Partnership

Ellison Technologies Inc. and Hexagon Metrology Inc. announced a strategic distribution partnership at Ellison’s “Technology Days” event. The Santa Fe Springs and Berkley, Calif., regional offices of Ellison Technologies will become authorized distributors of Hexagon’s dimensional measurement products across California and Nevada. Hexagon products are used in quality control applications for manufacturing and include programmable coordinate measuring machines, portable articulated arms and software products with brand names such as Brown & Sharpe, Romer, PC-DMIS, Sheffield and more.

The partnership allows both companies to more effectively serve the sophisticated requirements of the manufacturing community throughout the western United States, particularly in the aerospace, defense, automotive, energy, wind power and heavy machinery markets.