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Welding Journal | July 2016

Amada Miyachi America Opens New Headquarters Amada Miyachi America, Inc., Monrovia, Calif., a manufacturer of resistance/laser welding, marking, cutting, and micromachining equipment, recently celebrated the opening of its new headquarters. This $13.5 million, 85,000-sq-foot facility includes a new technical center with 11 application-specific product demonstration labs, a training room, and a technology showroom. In addition, there is a manufacturing facility with a 1400-sq-ft, Class 10,000 clean room and six customer test labs. The event kicked off with a Taiko drum performance by TAIKOPROJECT, accompanied by a “Kagami biraki,” a traditional Japanese ceremony where a sake barrel is opened. More than 100 guests attended the ceremony, which was followed by a reception and open house. Attendees included top management from its parent company, Amada Miyachi Japan, Hidehisa Horinouchi, the Consul General from the Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles, officials from Los Angeles County and City of Monrovia, and customer representatives. “We are very proud of our new headquarters, especially the many features we included to make it a great work environment for employees,” said David Fawcett, president and CEO of Amada Miyachi America. “We also focused the building design efforts on enhancing our ability to meet the needs of customers and were gratified to hear that our efforts really paid off.” Manncorp Celebrates 50th Anniversary Manncorp has achieved 50 years of service to the electronics industry. Founder and CEO Henry Mann started the company from his parents’ home in Philadelphia in 1966. “In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, every industrial park in the country was full of companies building their own circuit boards,” Mann said. However, he noticed that not only were companies in need of equipment and supplies, but they also needed them quickly and efficiently. These observations led him to develop a customer-focused business model. Mann created catalogs that published pricing for everything from hand tools to high-end capital equipment. In addition, the company started designing and manufacturing its own brand of equipment. Delco and Motorola sought Mann’s assistance in developing systems for applications like high-volume processing of transistors, while some of the earliest equipment to form flat-pack integrated circuits for surface mounting was developed for Hughes Aircraft and Timex. Today, Manncorp has two 18,000-sq-ft facilities. Its headquarters is in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., and there is a new San Diego, Calif., location. Offices are also in Mexico, Brazil, and China. The company employs more than 30 fulltime employees. Essex Weld Solutions to Establish Cherokee County Operations, Create 70 Jobs Essex Weld Solutions, an international manufacturer of automotive racking products, is starting operations in Cherokee County, S.C., with Essex Weld USA, Inc. This move will bring a capital investment of $2.6 million to the Upstate region and create 70 new jobs. A subsidiary of the company, Essex Weld USA, also manufactures custom and standard automotive racking products, plus provides professional engineering services and certifications for shipping/storage containers to comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements. To create operations in the county, the company is moving into a 15,000-sq-ft industrial warehouse in Gaffney, S.C. Hiring is underway for new positions. Airgas Reorganizes Its South Distribution Region Airgas, Inc., Radnor, Pa., has recently reorganized its south distribution region. A redefined south region, headquartered in Tampa, Fla., covers Florida along with southern Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. It is led by Edwin Robertson, who has served as an area vice president in the south region since 2007. In addition, a new southeast region, headquartered in Kennesaw, Ga., covers northern Georgia and Alabama, Mississippi, and southern Tennessee. It is led by Kevin McBride, who has led the south region’s growth as president since 2014. Recent Acquisitions • Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, has acquired Vizient® Manufacturing Solutions, Bettendorf, Iowa. The privately held robotic integrator, which specializes in customengineered tooling and automated arc welding systems for general and heavy-fabrication applications, also has operations in Brazil. Annual sales are approximately $40 million. • Praxair, Inc., Danbury, Conn., has acquired five industrial gas businesses. In the United States, it bought three independent distributors of industrial and specialty packaged gases — The Welding Center in Illinois, Welder Services in Indiana, and A&B Electric Motors and Supplies in Arizona. In Panama, it secured Geneva Industrial Gases. Also, its Italian subsidiary, Rivoira, acquired Ossigas S.r.l. Combined, these had 2015 annual sales of more than $40 million. • Novaria Group, Fort Worth, Tex., has acquired substantially all the assets of Ferco Tech, L&E Engineering, and GGF Manufacturing. These three business units, collectively operating as Ferco Aerospace, supply aircraft engine manufacturers with high-strength, temperature-resistant brackets, tube assemblies, and other exotic metal fabrications. BUSINESS BRIEFS 16 WELDING JOURNAL / JULY 2016 WJ President/CEO of Amada Miyachi Co., Ltd. Toshiyasu Tsuijoka holds the scissors at a ribbon cutting ceremony for Amada Miyachi America’s new building with enhanced facilities.


Welding Journal | July 2016
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