September 2009 News

Citizen Represents Miyano Machines in U.K.

Citizen Machinery U.K. will now also represent the Miyano range of turning centers in Scotland, North of England and North Wales, the East Midlands and East Anglia.

Citizen U.K. managing director, Geoff Bryant, says, "There is no change in the commercial, application and service support for the Miyano range of equipment, which will continue to be administered from the Birmingham, England, headquarters of Miyano Machinery U.K."

Both U.K. operations, which were drawn together following the acquisition of 65 percent of Miyano shares by Citizen in Japan in 2008, will continue to take advantage of their respective brands and separate sectors of operation. Citizen’s focus is small turned part production up to 32-mm diameter bar size, and Miyano’s focus is diameters up to 64 mm.

Company Expands Operations

AMT Machine Systems has expanded its operations to be more efficient and responsive to customers, suppliers and partners. The company will still be located in Columbus, Ohio, but has moved their manufacturing, engineering and administrative operations into a new, larger facility at 868 Freeway Drive N., Columbus, Ohio 43229.

West Coast Division Opens

CNC Engineering Inc. has announced the start-up of a West Coast sales and support division in response to their expanding GE Fanuc control retrofit business. Gene Moss, formerly a sales and applications engineer for GE Fanuc Automation, has been appointed to lead CNC Engineering’s expansion into the West Coast. Mr. Moss has more than 30 years experience with GE Fanuc controls as both an engineer and sales manager for the West Coast.

Creating this new position will enable the company to better serve the local need for reliable, state-of-the-art GE Fanuc control retrofits. The company also established a dedicated local service engineer for the West Coast.

Company Name Change

Kennebec Tool & Die Inc. announced it has changed its name to Kennebec Technologies Inc. to better represent the scope of its products and services as they have evolved through the years. The company’s name change is accompanied by a complete re-branding initiative to bring its corporate identity up to date with new signage, a media-rich Web site and updated sales materials.

"Our original name has become more and more misleading through the years," says company owner and president, Charles "Wick" Johnson. The manufacturing company is now specializing in complex, high-precision components for aerospace, defense, alternative energy, medical, semiconductor and telecommunications applications.

ZPS Takes On Multi-Spindle Line

ZPS America LLC became the factory-authorized North American source for full customer support, including service, machine rebuilding, applications support, parts, training and sales for the TAJMAC-ZPS line of cam-driven multi-spindle automatic lathes. Until May 1, the machines had been branded and sold in the United States as "Euroturn," a registered trademark of Gosiger Import.

Gosiger Import had handled the TAJMAC line, but the decision was made that ZPS’s current customers and TAJMAC’s future plans for North America would be best supported by a fully equipped, dedicated ZPS factory presence in the market.

"Because ZPS America is the factory, we can help customers upgrade their cam machines with CNC slides and Siemens controls, and even help evaluate whether to exchange a ZPS or Mori-Say cam machine for one of our TMZ CNC multis," says Olaf Tessarzyk. The company also offers full preventive maintenance plans for the machines. Contact ZPS at (317) 452-4030.

Online Training for First-Time Supervisors

Tooling U has released a series of training classes for first-time supervisors. The new set of classes, titled "Supervisor Essentials," includes training topics such as effective communication, leadership principles, performance management, conflict resolution and basic cost accounting.

Unlike traditional "soft skills" training, this supervisor training is tailored specifically to a manufacturing audience.