Page 8 - MetalForming April 2012

News Fronts
Associations
AMT and AMTDA Merge
AMT—The Association for Manufacturing Technolo- gy and AMTDA (the Ameri- can Machine Tool Distribu- tors’ Association) have merged, integrating their products and services out of AMT’s headquarters in McLean, VA. All AMTDA employees will immediately join the new AMT.
“It has always been our goal to find better ways to serve the manufacturing industry,” says AMT presi- dent Douglas K. Woods. “This process, upon which we embarked 2 yr. ago, is a natural partnership that will help both organizations as we seek to advance manu- facturing in the United States.”
A New Era for Automation-Focused Trade Associations
The Association for Advancing Automation, or A3, is the new name of the umbrella trade association for the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the Auto- mated Imaging Association (AIA) and the Motion Control Association (MCA). The three associations represent more than 650 companies under the A3 umbrella, and work to promote the successful application of robots, vision and motion control in compa- nies and organizations.
Separately, RIA announced the appointment of Catherine Morris its 2012 chair. Morris, senior account manager for ATI Industrial Automation, is the first
woman to lead the associa- tion, and also is the first chair coming from a compo- nent-supplier company.
Agreements
Minster Set to be Sold
The Minster Machine Co., Minster, OH, is being acquired by Nidec-Shimpo, a division of Nidec Corporation. Kyoto, Japan. The transac- tion is expected to be com- pleted early in April 2012. Says John Winch, Minster president and CEO: “We feel the acquisition by Nidec will give Minster a much larger competitive global footprint in the machinery, automation and services marketplace, while maintaining local pro- duction and management.” Operations will continue in
Minster, and current owners John and David Winch will remain with the organization, as will the balance of the management team.
Cincinnati Inc. Appoints Canadian Distributor
Elliott Matsuura Canada, Inc., Oakville, Ontario, is the new exclusive Canadian dis- tributor for Cincinnati Inc. press brakes, shears and laser-cutting systems. The new agreement between the two companies expands the distribution rights for Elliott Matsuura to all of Canada; the machine-tool distributor previously represented Cincinnati in the six Eastern Canadian provinces.
ATW Acquires Metalform Co.
A.T. Wall Co., Warwick, RI,
6 MetalForming/April 2012
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