PM News: November 2010

Robot Products Group Appoints V.P.

ABB appointed Joe Campbell as V.P. of its U.S. Robot Products Group. Mr. Campbell, who joined ABB Robotics in September 2008 as the V.P. of sales and marketing, will lead the sales, market development, technical support and production delivery of ABB robots in the U.S. The overall ABB robotics operation in North America consists of the Robot Products, Robot Systems and Customer Service groups.

Mr. Campbell is a 28-year veteran of the robotics industry. In his new role, he will continue to develop existing and emerging markets for ABB robots, while also working to deliver production and technical support to systems integrators and end users alike.

CNC Lathes Thrive in the Global Downturn

600 Group says high quality conventional and manual/CNC lathes have been the most resilient during the world’s unprecedented economic
turmoil.

600 Group sells its machine tools, spares and accessories to more than 180 countries worldwide, through leading brands such as Colchester-Harrison, Pratt Burnerd and Gamet Bearings. The group says the demand for these machines has been threefold: significantly increased investment in education, a trend towards small-batch production as demand reduced, and a lack of availability of finance for more high tech CNC machines.

In North America, 600’s main brand is Clausing. Don Haselton, managing director for North America, says, “While the American market is still off around 65 percent, we have begun to see a slight improvement in overall consumption.”

Workholding Products Manufacturer Appoints New President

Hank Kohl is the new president at Hainbuch America. He has more than
25 years of experience in the machine tool industry and has worked for American, German and other European companies, established subsidiaries and positioned the enterprises in the North American market. According to Mr. Kohl, the company has excellent clamping products for both rotating and stationary requirements that the North American market is unaware of.

Kohl has ambitious goals, however, he also brings along good prerequisites to achieve them.

Chip Management System Manufacturer Changes Name

The fluid filtration and recycling solutions for machining applications previously marketed and sold under the PRAB/Monlan name are now under the PRAB brand.

Ned Thompson, president and CEO of PRAB Inc., says, “We’re pleased to now market our filtration capabilities under the PRAB name, expanding an already broad spectrum of solutions to include fluid filtration. In the end, this change is about providing greater value to our customers, helping them stay competitive and profitable in this new economy.”

The change is a result of the PRAB parent company’s May 2008 acquisition of The Monlan Group. Since February 2009, the fluid filtration line has been represented under the PRAB/Monlan brand. 

Strategic Partnership to Create Integrated Servomotors

The Electromechanical Division of Parker Hannifin, a supplier of motion control equipment, has entered into a product development and distribution agreement with AMT Machine Systems (Columbus, Ohio), to address the growing integrated motor control (IMC) market. Under the agreement, AMT will develop an intelligent servomotor drive, which incorporates motor control, I/O, motion control capability and network communications to be integrated with Parker Hannifin’s MPP series servomotors.

The IMC drive being developed by AMT is based on CyberDrive intelligent drive. The CyberDrive module incorporates motor control, driver electronics and Ethernet Powerlink communications, which, when integrated with the MPP series servomotors, results in a line of integrated, intelligent servomotors for industrial motion control. 

Small Business Jobs Bill Creates Momentum for Small Manufacturers

AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology supports President Obama’s signing of the Small Business Jobs Act into law last September.
Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT, says, “This single piece of legislation includes numerous provisions that will build on the momentum we created at IMTS to spur manufacturers across the country to make the investments necessary to improve their competitiveness.”

The Manufacturing Mandate, put forth by AMT, calls for a long-term national strategy to revitalize the U.S. manufacturing sector, involving all stakeholders—governments, schools, business leaders and their workers.

SME Acquires Tooling U

SME has acquired Tooling U, a provider of online training for the manufacturing industry. Tooling U’s addition to SME’s product line will help the society address the growing workforce development challenges many manufacturers are facing. According to SME, at the appropriate time, the society will use its resources, including its members, to expand the course offerings through Tooling U to meet a company’s career development needs.