Page 8 - MetalForming July 2016

News Fronts
Agreements
Kyocera Acquires SGS Tool
viding protection against cor- rosion. MetoKote provides two color options to Cardington, silver and black, and applies the single-component material using two robotic systems. Heat-resistant coatings prima- rily are used with exhaust-sys- tem components due to the extreme temperatures to which these components are exposed.
Kyocera Corp., Kyoto, Japan, has agreed to pur- chase U.S.-based solid tool manufacturing and sales com- pany, SGS Tool Co., Munroe Falls, OH, and its group com- panies. Effective May 2, 2016, Kyocera will acquire 100-per- cent ownership of SGS Tool, and will rename the company Kyocera SGS Precision Tools Inc. The acquisition fits with Kyocera’s efforts to expand its cutting-tool business globally. The company offers its main lineup of indexable cutting- tool products, while SGS Tool is a solid-tool manufacturing and sales company with strength in products for the medical, automotive, aero- space and energy industries.
The Gary Memorial Medal is presented annually to rec- ognize an individual for his or her remarkable lifelong contri- butions to the North American steel industry.
The North American robot- ics market has set new records thus far in 2016, according to Robotic Indus- tries Association (RIA), the industry’s trade group.
SGS Tool headquarters will remain in Munroe Falls, with manufacturing located in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, and Columbia City, IN, as well as in the United Kingdom.
Fab2Order, Brownsburg, IN, has acquired Monrovia, IN-based Machine2Order (for- merly Winners Circle Engineer- ing), a precision-machining company. With the buy, Fab2Order, a metal-fabrication company, has moved Machine2Order and its cur- rent employees to the Browns- burg location with an expan- sion that increased Fab2Order’s facility size.
While it is still the largest industry in terms of volume for robotics, orders to the automo- tive industry grew only 1 per- cent in the first quarter of 2016. In terms of applications, the biggest increases were realized in spot welding (31 percent), assembly (15 per- cent) and material handling
(6 percent).
AISI Awards SSAB Americas’ Chuck Schmitt its Gary Memorial Medal
MetoKote Corp.’s Lima, OH, facility has been awarded the Supplier Performance Award from Cardington Yutaka Technologies, Inc. For more than 15 years, MetoKote has been providing high-tempera- ture, liquid-paint services to Cardington for its exhaust components, and the award was granted for outstanding scheduling flexibility and part turnaround throughout the past year.
“We saw an opportunity for continued growth into the machining industry,” says Jason Greeson, Fab2Order co- founder and CEO. “We are now able to offer our cus- tomers both metal fabrication and precision machining, and can determine which is the most cost-effective option for each customer and project individually.”
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has announced that Chuck Schmitt, president of SSAB Americas, is the 2016 recipi- ent of the Gary Memorial Medal—the industry’s highest honor. Schmitt, AISI’s imme- diate past chairman, “is an outstanding leader for AISI and for the entire steel indus- try in North America,” says Martin Lindqvist, CEO of SSAB AB. “His hard work con- tinues to help strengthen the
High-temperature-resistant coatings are designed to with- stand temperatures ranging from 300 to 1200 F while pro-
The two companies will remain separate divisions next door to each other with specific managers. Greeson will remain as the CEO for both divisions.
Growth in nonautomotive industries soared in the first quarter of 2016. Robots ordered by the semiconductor and electronics (90 percent), food and consumer goods (82 percent), and plastics and rub- ber (44 percent) industries all experienced sizable increases over the same period in 2015.
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role of steel in American manufacturing.”
Robot-Order Records in 2016, But Automotive Flat
The medal’s inscription reads, “For his outstanding leadership in representing the critical public policy interests of the Institute and American manufacturing in a period of tremendous challenge; [and] for his unwavering commit- ment of time and energy to matters that will impact the future of the North American steel industry, the Institute and the people we support and serve to keep our vital industry strong.”
The MetoKote-Lima facility, opened in 1972 and located next to the corporate office, is one of 30 MetoKote facilities located in seven countries.
A reported total of 7406 robots valued at approximately $402 million were ordered from North American compa- nies during the first quarter of 2016. The number of units ordered in the first three months of 2016 is a new record among opening quar- ters, growing 7 percent over the same period in 2015, according to RIA, but order rev- enue decreased by 8 percent in the first quarter. Robot ship- ments also set a new opening- quarter record, with 7125 robots valued at $448 million shipped to North American customers. This represents growth of 2 percent in units and 21 percent in dollars over the same quarter of last year.
Schmitt served as chair- man of the AISI board of direc- tors from May 2015 through May 2016 and chaired a num- ber of board-level committees. He was elected to the AISI board in 2011, and will remain as an officer on the board for another year.
Fab2Order Acquires Precision-Machining Business
Business Notes
Awards
MetoKote Earns Supplier Performance Award from Auto Customer
RIA estimates that some 262,000 robots now are at